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We Purchase Louisiana Territory
Thomas Jefferson, being president at the time, made one of the biggest decisions of his life: He bought the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon. It only cost $15 million then (about $0.05 per acre), but in present day he would have paid $233 million! Due to this great achievement, he nearly doubled the size of America. The only problem being that the NAtive Americans were forced to move -
American Neutrality Breached
Even after the transferring of land to the Americans, Napleon continued to attack us. When he started his blockades, it hurt American trading. British imports and exports could not pass the blockade. On top of that, Napoleon tried to capture our ships. Even though he was the main reason of this problem, Americans believed that the British were more of a threat. -
Chesapeake Bay Incident
The British decided they wanted to take our ships, but we refused. a battle broke out, killing 3 Americans and wounding 18 more. This caused more tension between the British and Americans. -
Embargo Act is Our Response
In a plan to punish the British America passed the Embargo Act of 1807. It banned all trade between European countries and America. Americans believed it would hurt the British, but it did not work as they had planned. Instead, it made America suffer much worse. -
War Hawks Want One Thing
A group of people were formed during the tension rising. These people were named the War Hawks. Most of the members were Southern and Western congressmen who were (obviously) in favor of the war. These men took it upon themselves to persuade people to be in favor of war, also. -
Indian Aggression Worsens
Since the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson realize that was a great expanse of land to watch over. He appointed William Henry Harrison as the governor of Indiana territory. Harrison's job was to sign a contract allowing American settlers to begin living there. One tribe of Indians, the Shawnee, were prepared to fight for their land. -
Weapons to the Weaponless
The Native Americans formed a confederacy to stop the Americans from settling into their land. When the British in Canada heard the Native Americans were willing to fight, they wanted to even out the playing field. The British secured weapons for the Native Americans to use agains settlers. This greatly threatened American citizens. It was coming down to the last straw. -
Impressment Depresses U.S.
Between the years of 1803-1810, British had attacked U.S. ships and forced the soldiers to fight against the French for them. By this time the British had captured around 4,500 American men. This angered the United States greatly, leading to a war. -
Tecumseh Speaks
The Shawnee tribe were angered that they needed to give up the land they lived on, after all it wasn't technically theirs. The gods owned all the land in which the Native Americans lived, so it was not their right to give it up. The Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh, delivered a speech explaining this idea. -
Declaration of War
With the Indians on their side, the British had no intention of giving the upper hand to the Americans. President Madison felt threatened by these actions. He, with the approval of Congress, declared war on Britian. Thus beginning the War of 1812.
