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The War of 1812.
In June 1812, the then president of the United States, James Madison, believed a state of war existed between Great Britain and the United States for several reasons. The war lasted for almost three years, ending in February 1815. President Madison believed that the war was necessary because of specific reasons. He believed that Great Britain was interfering with trade on the high seas. Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions that affected the trade between the United States and France, a country in war with Britain. The United States’ president, on the other hand, saw these restrictions as illegal according to international law, hence seeing it as an act of war.
For some time, Americans had tolerated the restrictions by Great Britain; thus, the president feeling that it was time to end the restrictions which they perceived as illegal. Before the war, Congress enacted some regulations; the embargo and non-intercourse act prohibited trade between United States vessels and European nations. After a while, the laws proved ineffective, and the United States resumed business with the countries. However, Britain continued to block the vessels, impacting trade in the high seas, calling for a state of war (Office of the Historian n.d., n.p.).
The second reason why President Madison believed a state of war existed between Great Britain and the United States as Britain’s continued impressment or forced recruitment of United States citizens and merchants. The British took American sailors and merchants from their ships and forced them to work in the royal navy ships. British sailors were being sent to American vessels for inspection, but instead seized and abducted the sailors (McNamara 2020, n.p.). They claimed that the abductees were deserters from Britain and therefore were liable to work in the ships.
The claimed British deserters were forced to provide military support in the navy, to wage war against its enemies. This act intensified the anger the American people had on the British over the trade restrictions between them and the French and other European countries. President Madison used this anger by the American people and saw the impressment as an act of war, as it touched on national sovereignty matters, hence pushing for the congress’ approval of the 1812 war.
Thirdly, President Madison saw Britain’s act inciting an Indian attack on the American frontier as a war instigator. The Indians were offering resistance to the American frontier’s expansion to the northwest, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The British made promises to the Indians that there will be the protection of their land and trade continuity. It divided the native communities, with a section of them supporting the American course. In contrast, others chose to support the British, believing that the British’s win would mean that the expansion had reached an end. The incitement and support of the Indians by the British acted against the American interests, thus leading to a declaration of war against the British (Fixico n.d., n.p.).
Congress was persuaded by the speaker of the house Henry Clay, to declare war against Great Britain by using its constitutional powers. After the tension of the British impressment of the American soldiers, interference with trade in the high seas, relations, and inciting American Indians and occupation of American territory, which was a matter of national sovereignty. However, the decision to wage war against Britain divided the houses, with the Senate approving the war against Britain in a vote of 19-13.
The American s were justified in declaring the 1812 war due to several reasons. For instance, they had tried resolving the trade restrictions, but Britain continued blocking their ships from carrying out trade with France, its allies, and other European countries. Additionally, their fellow citizens were being taken out of their vessels, forcefully recruited to support the royal navy to wage war against its enemies, especially the French. Furthermore, American blood was being spilled by the British soldiers within the territorial waters under the American’s control, which is illegal under international law. The British also were meddling with the affairs of the Americans’ expansion of their territories. They were inciting and supporting the American Indians to offer resistance against the growth of their northeastern frontier.
The Hartford convention, which took place in Hartford, Connecticut in the United States between Dec 14, 1814, and Jan 5, 1815, involved the Federalist Party delegates meeting to discuss the grievances that resulted from the ongoing 1812 war. The representatives were from New Hampshire, Rhodes Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The convention was significant, as it prevented New England’s secession from the United States. It also called the federal government to support New England and supply it with financial aid to boost its battered economy. The convention further resulted in a constitutional amendment that required at least a two-thirds majority vote for Congress to declare war (Sheridan 2015, n.p.).
New England’s Federalists opposed Mr. Madison’s war. They cited that just like the embargo act by Jefferson and the non-intercourse act, the war was harmful and hurting to their economy. They claimed that the war would harm their seaport based livelihoods. Furthermore, they accused the president of leading the United States into a war that was pointless and would lead to conflicts between the United States and British, not forgetting its allies. They feared that there might be a land inversion resulting from the war, thus refusing to place their militia under the federal government’s control.
The federalists wanted to address the two successive presidents’ policies, which were wounding their economies that is the embargo act, the non-intercourse act, and now the 1812 war. They also wanted the federal government to protect New England and support it to reclaim its hurting economy; their economy was hurting due to the policies that had been created and implemented earlier, namely the embargo act and the non-intercourse act. However, there were rumors that the federalists wanted New England’s secession from the rest of the United States. To them, the changes were necessary to avoid future hurting of their economy, the impact of seaport livelihoods, and the prevention of a land inversion.
The treasonous acts of the federalists caused the first party system to end. The actions divided the party into sections according to their perceptions. The Federalist Party shrank to very few strongholds, which were isolated. The Democratic-Republicans, on the other hand, lost their unity. All this was happening during the ‘good feeling era’ when there was an intense desire among the Americans for unity post the 1812 war. The era saw the end of the partisan disputes that existed between the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party. The period is directly linked to President James Monroe’s term when he downplayed the partisan affiliation when making his nominations.
The Ghent treaty was a peace deal signed by American and British representatives in Ghent, Belgium, on Dec 24, 1814. According to this deal, all the British forces’ conquered territories had to be returned to the Americans. Additionally, a commission had to settle the boundaries between America and Canada. Even though the treaty did not declare who was the winner of the 1812 war, Americans perceive this war as the second war of independence. It is because of what they believed they were fighting for and what they were accomplishing.
For instance, Americans fought for their rights as people against being violated by the British soldiers and sometimes killed. Additionally, they had fought for their rights to make the trade with the European nations and the French, which the British were against. The Americans were also angered by how the British soldiers impressed them, claiming that they were deserters. The British soldiers’ actions of taking American citizens from their ships to work in the royal navy ships was something that the Americans did not enjoy, hence after the treaty was signed. The international laws and regulations made clear, and it felt like they were liberated from an oppressor, the British (American Battlefield n.d., n.p).
References.
American Battlefield. Two Wars for Independence.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/two-wars-independence
Fixico, Donald. ‘PBS.’ A Native Nations Perspective on the War of 1812. https://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/native-nations-perspective/
McNamara, Robert. ‘ThoughtCo.’ Impressment of Sailors. 2020, Jan 29. https://www.thoughtco.com/impressment-of-sailors-1773327#
Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. War of 1812–1815. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/war-of-1812
Sheridan, Kim. ‘Connecticut History.Org.’ The Hartford Convention – Today in History: Dec 15. 2015, Dec 15.
https://connecticuthistory.org/the-hartford-convention-today-in-history/