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The War of1812
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President Madison Takes Office
James Madison won the election of 1808. One of the people he ran up against was John Randolf. When Madison took office in 1809 there was lots of tension in America. Britain was impressing American soldiers and Native Americans were attacking American settlers. The two nations entered war in 1812. -
War Hawlks Take Power
Many Americans feel a sense of nationalism. Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun are strong nationalists. They become leaders in the House of Representatives. Supportes of Clay and Calhoun are called war hawlks. War hawlks are eager for war with Britain. -
Relations With Great Britain Worsen
-The British were blockading some American Ports.
-The Briish were captuing American ships.
-The British were arming Native Americans.
-The British were encouraging Native Americans to attack U.S settlers.
-The United States stopped trade with Britain. -
America is not Ready for War
When Jefferson was president he did not spend much money on defences. So the Americans were not quite ready for the war that they had just declared. There were only 16 navy ships. The army was also ill equipped and very small. Also not many officers knew much about the military. -
Congress Declares War on Britain
Tensions between Britain and America countinued to rise in the early mounths of 1812. Britain announced that they would countinue capturing American sailors. Then Native Americans sstart new attacks on more serrlements. With all this going on, something had to be done. So on this date, Congress declared war. -
Britain Blockades American Ports
-The Blockade occured in the first days of war.
-The Blockade prevented any one from coming in or out of American Ports.
-The Blockade badly damaged New England's trade.
-The British kept reinforcin thier troops.
-By the end of the war The Blockade had closed off all American ports. -
Invasion of Canada
General Willian Hull moved his American troops into Canada. The British General only had a small amount of troops to ward off Americans. But he was clever. He gave false information to Americans. The information was enough to scare Anericans out of Canada. -
USS Constitution Scores a Victory
-The USS Constitution defeated the British ship Guerriere.
-The wooden hull is very tough and 2 feet thick.
-Cannonsbounced it's sides like they were made of iron.
-American soldeirs referred to the ship as "Old Ironsides"
-This was a major battle in the war. -
Battle of Lake Erie
-The British took control of Lake Erie when the war started.
-In 1813 Oliver Hazard Perry becomes commander of a navy.
-On September 10th Perry took his crew to Lake Erie to prevail over British ships.
-The event took place near Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
- The Americans won control over Lake Erie.
-The Americans won control over Lake Erie. -
Battleof Thames
The Americans are now in control of Lake Erie.The Britesh and it's Native Americn allies retreat into Canada.But the American General William Henry Hattison and his troops followed him. They defeated the British in the Battle of Thames. Tecuseh, an ally was killed in this battle. -
Horshoe Bend
After lusing the Battle of Lake Erie the British and thier Native American ally Tecumseh, retreated into Canada. The Creeks, Tecumseh's allies, countinued to fight. A Tennasee officer, Andrew Jackson, lead this fight. Jackson defeated the creeks in this battle. America gained lots of lan in the treaty that ended this battle. -
Washington D.C Attacked and Burned
- James Madison left on the 22nd to meet with generals.
- Dolly Madison was left to collect important papers in case the British did attack.
- She saved a painting of George Washington.
- The White House was not completly ruined in the burning.
- But it was not completly restored untill James Monroe was President.
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Attack on Baltimore
The British attacked WashingtonD.C in Augest. They then moved to Baltimore. The objective was to get Fort McHenry. McHenry defended the cities harbour. All throughthe night the British bombared the fort. But the Americans fought them off. -
The Writting of The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key watched the attack on Baltimore. The next mourning when he saw the American Flag he knew we had won. Key wrote " The Star Spangled Banner ". He told the eventss of the night's battle in it. The poem officialy became our country's national anthem in 1931. -
Hartford Connvention
-New England hated the war and never wanted in in the first place. In December a group of Federalists gathered in Hartford, Connecticut. They suggested that the New England states withdraw from the rest of the states. Meanwhile news of the peace treaty arrived. With this news the convention immediatly ended. -
Treaty of Ghent
-The British is tired of war.
-Peace ttalks begin in Ghent, Belgium
-Both sides sighned the Treaty of Ghent on Christmas eve.
-Things returned back to normal, the way they were before the war.
-The news took a long time to reach The U.S. -
Battle of New Orleans
The British decide to attack New Orleans. But Andrew Jackson's troops are ready. The British kept attacking and the Ameicans kept winning. 2,000 British died but only 7 Americans died. The battle ocurred 2 weeks after the treaty that ended the war was sighned.
