Several of my ancestors served our country during the War of 1812. Silas Simmons, James Absalom Johnson, and sons of John Lott were among those whom served. Rather than just listing the time frame that my ancestors served, I wanted to know more. Why did the war begin? What countries were involved? How did it affect the United States as a whole? How did it affect the lives of my ancestors? I'm sure that the War of 1812 was taught in history class while I was a school girl, but that was many, many years ago. I remember only pieces of the story. Learning more about the history of the war will help me better appreciate the services of my elders.
In order to prevent the post from being too lengthy, I'm going to write about the War of 1812 in separate parts.
(Photo credit: www.warchat.org)
What caused the War of 1812? The reasons were:
1. Commercial Warfare
Britain and France had been at war since 1793. The United States desired to remain neutral and exported American goods to both European countries. Beginning in 1806, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to impede American trade with France. Britain viewed America as a threat to its maritime supremacy and also became resentful of the growing competition with France and other countries for U.S. exports. At that time, the United States was known as the largest neutral shipping country. Britain declared, though Orders of Council, that all ports controlled by the French were to be closed to all foreign shipping unless those ships first stopped at British ports; at those ports, the foreign ships, including American ones, would have to pay fees and obtain any necessary papers to continue on to their final ports. American shipping interests and exporters were extremely concerned about the situation, but shipping was primarily an issue in the northern states. Southern farmers exported nothing and would not have been affected directly.
2. Impressment
All Americans were concerned about the British practice of impressment; under British law, sailors could be kidnapped and forced to serve in the British Navy. While the official rules mandated that the impressed men be British subjects, thus excepting Americans by policy, impressment officials seldom worried about the nationality of the sailors they kidnapped. In fact, they often had stretchers to carry the men that they would knock unconscious with clubs before taking them to a ship. All told, about 6,000 American sailors were forced into service by Britain between 1808 and 1811, and many were killed or wounded. The American public was quite outraged at the practice.
3. Indian Raids
American expansion into the Northwest Territory was being obstructed by Indian leaders like Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (The Shawnee Prophet), who were supplied and encouraged by the British. Tenskwatawa had a vision of purifying his society by expelling the "children of the Evil Spirit", the American settlers. Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh formed a confederation of numerous tribes to block American expansion. The British saw the Indian nations as valuable allies and a buffer to its Canadian colonies and provided arms. Attacks on American settlers in the Northwest further aggravated tensions between Britain and the United States.
4. British Insults
On June 22, 1807, the British frigate Leopard stopped the U.S. frigate Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia and demanded permission to search the ship for British deserters. When their demand was refused, the British attacked the American ship killing three sailors and wounding 18 more. After the attack, British naval forces announced their intention to search all American vessels.
In response, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 which put a complete stop to all foreign exports, and which virtually stopped all imports. The point of the Embargo Act was to punish the British and French until they began to respect the authority of the American nation. In actuality, however, American merchants were punished because they were prohibited from exporting. In 1809, Jefferson signed the Non-Intercourse Act which repealed the Embargo Act and opened foreign trade to all countries except France and Great Britain. The Non-Intercourse Act proved impossible to enforce, and was replaced with Macon's Bill Number 2 by Congress in 1810. Macon's Bill Number 2 allowed for the resumption of trade with all nations including Great Britain and France.
Napoleon I of France indicated he would respect U.S. neutrality in the war between England and France, if the U.S. reimposed non-intercourse with England. The U.S. president at the time, James Madison agreed, and subsequently suspended trade with England. Pressured by Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and others, Madison called up 100,000 militiamen for six months service for the purposes of declaring war on England.
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