Why did we go to the War of 1812?

Question

What was the influence of:

embargo polocies of Jefferson and Madison,
British impressment of American soldiers,
settlers' conflict with the native americans, and
expansionist goals of war hawks

on the U.S. decision to go to war in 1812?

I'll admit that I had an assignment on this a few days ago, but I failed it and I want to know why. All the information I found was vague, little, or contradictory to what was in my book. So Now I'm just completely lost, and my teacher says that these are main points to understand if we want to pass the AP test , so I need help. I have researched but came up, obviously (with a 63% on my assignment), short.

Answer 1

The impressment of sailors by the British was considered particularly attrocious, as they basically kidnapped American merchant sailors and forced them to serve the Crown on the high seas in international water. The conflicts with Native Americans was an ongoing problem throughout the 19th century, but was a growing problem in the early part due to the vast exploration that was beginning, coupled with the larger demand for land as immigration was growing from all parts of Europe. The War Hawks were a political group who felt the US should become imperialistic and gain as much foreign land as was possible, and were still reeling from the after affects of the Revolutionary War. They felt that we should really seperate ourselves from British influence, and the British were still pretty hot about losing a large chunk of North America (they still had Canada but the War Hawks were all for invading there as well).

Answer 2

The "causes" of the war are CHIEFLY seen in President Madison's official statement justifying the declaration of war (for which Congress voted).

1) impressment of U.S. sailors. This was actually settled before war, with Britain largely acquiescing (though with slow communication the Americans did not yet know this) Note that this had been going on for some time and was a product of the wars between France and England. British sailors DID in fact sometimes 'jump ship'. Unfortunately, when the British stopped a ship they were quick to claim sailors who might or might not be their own... and what could you do to stop them? There was also the problem with

2) interference in American TRADE, and hence with American sovereignty/independence.

This was mainly the result of the wars between Britain and France (and Americans suffered at the hands of BOTH powers). Once that war ended, the British no longer interfered in the same way. Thus the American objective was achieved, though not necessarily by the war!!

3) "Indian question" -- in the Northwest frontier wars. the British supported the Indians
this was THE reason for invading the Canadian territories. Note, that the U.S. was indeed successful in reaching this objective. After the war the British were never again involved in assisting Indians vs. the U.S.

This last piece is an important point for those (in Canada, for example) who think that annexing Canada was THEreason or at least ONE major reason for the war. The confusion is rooted in the fact that some in the Western states DID want to annex the Canadian colonies, and it was the support of these "War Hawks" (led by the young Henry Clay) that gave enough Congressional support for the war to be carried out. (This was also important in light of the fact that there was much OPPOSITION to the war in New England.) But this was NEVER the reason for the invasion, never officially stated as such... and the U.S. government never pushed for it.

In other words, for you AP question -- the expansionist goals of these War Hawks DID help push us into war-- it was one of THEIR reasons, if not the nation's.


Americans at the time put the three reasons together and called it a "Second War of Independence". Well, it was not that in the STRICT sense, since hough Britain was NOT attempting to retake its former colonies. But they WERE seeking to dominate the seas, trade and the associated economy, and if that meant preventing the American EXERCISE of full soveregnty, they were only to happy to do so (as was France). So, in this sense -- of truly EXERCISING its independence among the world's powers... including its rights on the sea, in trading, etc.-- the war WAS about establishing "independence".

Note how this answers the NEXT question usually ask -- "who won?" While it was officially a "draw" (returning pre-war boundaries, etc), in fact, America was greatly STRENGTHENED and emboldened by it. With its new navy and confidence (esp after the Battle of New Orleans) and with Britain no longer involved in the Indian border skirmishes, America WAS both more independent and more powerful... and its sovereignty was not challenged again. (An immediate example of this -- only months after the war ended the American navy became the first nation to decisively defeat the Barbary states, spelling the end of their centuries of piracy.)

Check these links for more details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_the_War_of_1812
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/HWW.htm (very detailed!)
http://nvnv.essortment.com/warof_rmfy.htm
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/intro/index.html
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/background/hist_amerlost.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncanson/military/1812.htm