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Impressment of Sailors
The British had a habit of manning ships of "pressed" sailors, and forcing them into labor. At the time, according to British law, the Navy essentially had the power to arrest men on the streets and place them into the Royal Navy. However, this did not apply to sailors of the US. By law, they were protected, and could not be taken for the Royal Navy. But this law however, was largely ignored by the British, and didn't stop them from boarding American ships, and pressing the sailors into service -
Washington's proclamation of Neutrality
Washington’s proclamation of neutrality was a formal announcement, stating the standpoint of the US between France and Great Britain: neutral- not favoring either side. -
Jay Treaty
Written by John Jay, the treaty did nothing to settle issues between the US and Britain, but it kept the two nations from going to war.The treaty sought to fix three major issues: the trade between Britain & America limited in Britain with tariffs and regulations, while the US market was being flooded with Britain imports, the occupation of British northern forts following the Treaty of Paris, which made an agreement that they would vacate the forts, and Britain’s impressment of American sailors -
Washington's Farewell address
Washington cautioned against foreign entanglements, like going to war, that could destroy the Union of the United States. As is understood, that caution was largely ignored and thus, the War of 1812 occurred. -
War Hawks
The War Hawks were a group of pro-war Republican Congressman led by the then Speaker of the House that argued the only option left to combat British arrogance is by going to war. They were not a majority party but they did eventually make many skeptics of their decisions to avoid war. -
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Shawnee Indian war chief and political leader who ravaged the Ohio Valley. He took part in a series of raids in Kentucky and Tennessee in the 1780s, and eventually fought on the side of pro-british forces in the War of 1812. Tecumseh’s brother was considered a religious leader, and he eventually turned his teachings into a political movement to try to get back the land that had been stolen. -
Chesapeake
The affair was between a U.S. and a British ship in which the Leopard (the British ship) took control of the Chesapeake (the U.S. ship) to claim four members who had deserted the Royal Army. The four deserters were taken and tried, and one was hanged. This caused quite an outrage among the Americans who thought the ship should’ve fought harder against the British, and said it was humiliating. England returned the three members and paid for damages to the Chesapeake to calm the violent reactions. -
Embargo act of 1807
The Embargo Act was set in place by Thomas Jefferson to stop all trade with Great Britain and France, since both France and England already had several restrictive tariffs with America to discourage trade from either nation. In the end, the embargo act ended up hurting the American economy much worse than it helped with anything. -
War of 1812 begins
This marks the beginning of the war between Great Britain, and the US, again. Government Officials were overly optimistic with their chances at winning the war, and took a big hit financially at the beginning of the war. -
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was killed in the battle of Thames, allied with the British- just north of the US-Canada border. His defeat marked the end of native american resistance east of the Mississippi. It was the last time the Native Americans arose to such levels to fight back. -
Hartford Convention
The Hartford convention was a series of meetings in Hartford Connecticut to discuss grievances concerning the war of 1812, and to discuss the economic impact the war of 1812 had on the US. The meetings were also to fix some parts of the constitution so the same problem would not arise in the future. Delegates from various states began to recommend amendments to the constitution. They came up with the ⅗ compromise, requiring ⅔ of the Senate to declare war, 60 day limit on embargo, etc. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was a peace treaty that ended the war of 1812 in which all conquered territory was to be returned and commissions were planned to outline the boundary of the united states. -
Battle of New Orleans
This battle was between the British troops, led by General Edward, and American troops, led by General Andrew Jackson. During the battle, the American troops were outnumbered 2:1, and were poorly equipped, but General Andrew Jackson, by gathering up militiamen, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians, and pirates, pulled through with a win against 8000 British Troops.