What caused the War of 1812?

I don't remember much about the war, but I do remember that it had relatively hazy causes. I remember the forced conscription of American sailors onto British vessels, as well as Britain being overall disrespectful towards America's trade policies or something. But why was America so eager to declare war on Britain again?

 

I may be wrong about this, as it has been many years since I studied it, but my understanding of the war of 1812 was not that America was looking to go to war again, but that Britain was trying to reclaim the lands it lost in the American Revolution.

 

I was under the impression that Britain was more bullying the US than actually trying to retake the land, e.g. trying to reduce its trade connections by holding an embargo with the US. I'm not sure, but I seem to remember my teacher saying that the War of 1812 was more because the US wanted to assert its strength or that it overreacted to British bullying.

 

the war of 1812 was not that the US was looking to go to war again, but Britain was trying to take back the land it lost in the American Revolution. So the US had no choice but to fight back.

 

The war of 1812 was caused by series of factors. The British and the French instituted economic sanctions against the U.S resulting from the American outrage against British application of impressment on U.S. sailors following the incident, which occurred at the Chesapeake Bay in 1807. The British Orders in Council embargo against the U.S was very devastating on the economy of the US to the point that it literary crippled the U.S. economy. The embargo also hurt the British economy but devastated the American economy totally. Many Americans were angry at the British for the embargo, and some members of the U.S. Congress known as War Hawks, found justification through the angered Americans to push for war, through Henry Clay the Chief War Hawk advocate at the time. This led the President of the U.S at the time, James Madison to declare war against the British in 1812.
The initial strategy pursued by the US was to cut off the British supply route to Tecumseh’s Indian federation in Canada. Such strategy US was also aiming at the acquisition of more territories. The battles in Canada did not favor the U.S whose army was not as trained and experienced as the British Army. The U.S Army was pushed back by the British at the Canadian battles. In the entire Northern front the British routed the American army with the exception of the battles commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry on Lake Erie as well as the battle of Lake Champlain commanded by Thomas Macdonough. These two battles along with the battle of New York were the only serious U.S battles on the Northern-front which prevented British forces from total victory on that front. The U.S. Commander and later president of the U.S, General William Henry Harrison, nonetheless succeeded in killing Tecumseh at the battle of Thames in 1813 against the British commander General Isaac Brock and his army.

 

Former British occupation of territories still leaves parts of the world in despair.

 

This is a very interesting thread, I never really thought of the reason why the war of 1812 occurred, but now I have a basic understand of how the war started up in the first place. Thanks, I guess you learn something new everyday.

 

1812 :

http://collections.libraries.iub.edu/warof1812/items/browse?tags=Maps

 

Fort McHenry:


http://www.earthcam.com/cams/maryland/baltimore/fortmchenry/?cam=fortmchenry2

 

And all this time I thought it was something about that derned overture.

 

Great piece of music about another war in a different part of the world. I guess that is why the Continental Army Command band plays it (or at least used to, don't know if they still do) at the 4th of July celebration at Ft' Monroe. They even have musically "tuned" cannons for that one show!

 

When I lived in Vero Beach, Fla. a lot of years ago, I had a great stereo system that I used some times as a neighbor noise deterrent. For that time it was a huge thing with 500 watt speakers, reel to reel, Pioneer turn table, and other bells and whistles, which, when the guys directly next door decided to do the Cuban party thing I would throw on the 1812 overture, full blast. It did well for a while until the cops came by and yes, one was Cuban American, and I was asked to play it softly because the one and only neiborhor I had didn't like it. That was the self proclaimed Bobby and Cuban war of 1975. I lost.

 

I really enjoy the tune and partly associate it with those 4th of July shows and the failure of Napoleon (and later Hitler) in trying to conquer Moscow. Hitler should have learned from Napoleon. I studied Russian and Russian Lit. in college, and the majesty of that nation inspired me. I pray that they may yet be free to be the nation they are capable of being. The people have suffered so much for so long. It is understandable that the song is so inspirational, and ironic that it has become a patriotic song for Americans. The song "My Country 'Tis of Thee" is to the tune of "God Save the Queen (King)". The tune for "The Star Spangled Banner" is a beer hall song "To Anacreon in Heaven". No problem.

 

I think it was a very complicated and confusing. At least my teachers didn't do a very good job explaining it. I was told it was because the British were pressing American sailors and because of trade issues. I understand why they would be mad about the sailors, but trade doesn't seem like a good reason to go to war.

 

Trade is the most common reason for war, historically. Even when religion is invoked, there is usually some financial question lurking under the surface.

 

Are you ready for another take on the matter? Here goes:

You need to look real hard at all the events leading up to this date. The American System was giving the British Imperialist Empire real headaches all over the world. Every country wanted like crazy to be free of England's tyranny and become a sovereign nation. The roaring success of Alexander Hamilton's Public Credits System turned National Debt into National Currency and poured it into nation - building infrastructure, returning loads of money real fast into America's First National Bank. The imperialists were rip-roaring mad! The Empire Loyalists schemed day and night to crush America from both within and without. One of their best agents was Aaron Burr. He established the Private Bank of Manhattan in 1799 on Wall Street, which was already a hub of British-backed private financiers and slave and opium traders, as a direct attack on Mr Hamilton's National Banking Policies. Anyway, you can read all about it in Anton Chaitkin's Treason in America: From Aaron Burr to Averell Harriman, Second Edition 1985.

So, moving on to 1804. This expert marksman, Mr Burr, assassinated Mr Hamilton in a provoked dual. Straight after, he wrote to the British Ambassador to Washington to offer his services to split up the United States by organizing sectional rebellions, for which he was tried for treason in 1807. He fled to England, where he stayed in the home of Jeremy Bentham, Lord Shelburne’s chief intellectual hired gun and the British East India Company’s ideologist.

Now, in 1811, British agents in the USA made sure that the twenty year charter of the First Bank of the United States was not renewed. Then came the War of 1812, in which Britain invaded and burned down Washington, D.C. But that was just the beginning! Because your National Bank was now gone, the British launched all-out trade and financial warfare on you guys.

As proof, Mr Bentham’s associate Henry Brougham (later Baron Brougham and Vaux) bragged of this warfare in a famous speech in the House of Commons on April 9 1816, which included Britain’s “free trade” dumping of every conceivable product upon America, even at a loss, to wipe out America’s domestic manufacturers, saying “Every thing that could be shipped was sent off; all the capital that could be laid hold of was embarked… it was well worth while to incur a loss upon the first exportation, in order, by the glut, to stifle in the cradle those rising manufactures in the United States, which the war had forced into existence contrary to the natural course of things.” Now, this “natural course of things” meant that the British planned to keep America as merely a weak raw materials producer for the Empire—precisely as they have done to my country today.

Later, in disguise, Mr Burr snuck back into your country during that war to continue Britain’s financial and political subversion of your country. With no national bank, and after 5 years of financial chaos from British Economic Warfare, the U.S. government in 1816 chartered the Second Bank of the United States along much the same lines to the original. This stabilized your financial system, and provided the means for an extraordinary economic development program of steel manufacturing, railroads and canals, called “internal improvements”. National banking, combined with Mr Hamilton’s other major policy initiative of high tariff protection to develop manufacturing, became known worldwide as the “American System”, in opposition to the “British System” of "free trade" and privately controlled “central banks”.

What are you guys taught these days? Do the British Imperialists have control over your education system too?

 

British Imperialists ?? What about the U.S. since before WW1 ?? Get your own house in order before spouting on your anti British/English comments about our past history! Why did you invade Canada in 1812 unless it was for expansion and creation of your own empire ? The Canadians didn't want you then and they don't want you now !!

 

Which country do you believe I am from? I thought I posted all of this information in my profile, so I will need to review this again. Where are you from?

I have nothing against the English nor British people. They are fine and good. My ancestry is partly middle-class English. It is imperialism which I'm against and my country has a long and common history of the fight against imperialism along with that of the USA. Incidentally, the new leader of the Labour Party in England is also fighting very hard against this very beast!

Do you want to learn about the history which has been deliberately kept from you or not? Do you really want to be the one to murder the whistle-blower?

 

God help us all a Jeremy Corbyn lover !

 

Ah! So now we know our colours are very much opposite. Don't worry, I've been on the other side before I educated myself enough to grow out of it.

I thought everyone loved Jem Corbyn? It was the Only thing in the news when he won leadership and had ten thousand plus people sign up as members of the Labour Party in just one weekend!

Happy New Year!