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The Impressment of American Sailors
During the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain's fleet was dwindling and they needed more sailors that could defend trade routes, as well as Great Britain itself. Because of this need, the British turned to impressing American sailors and making them fight in their war. In all, the British impressed over 15,000 American sailors. This was one of the major reasons as to what led to the War of 1812. -
Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality
Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality declared that the United States would stay neutral in any conflicts between Great Britain and France or any conflicts between other countries. It also meant that America would not aid any countries. Even after this was declared, years later, the United States got caught up in foreign affairs during the World Wars. -
Jay Treaty
After the French Revolution, John Jay came up with a treaty that would be very unpopular with Americans. This was because it gave Britain more rights, while the United States was barely mentioned. The purpose of the Jay Treaty was to settle the tensions between the two countries and help avert war. Even though it settled some of the tensions between the countries, it caused more tension in the states between the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. -
Washington's Farewell Address
In Washington's Farewell Address, he warned about getting involved in other countries messes, as well as getting entangled in political parties and allowing different ideologies cause people to turn on one another. -
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair was an incident between Great Britain and America. While at sea, the Chesapeake, which was an American ship, refused to allow the British, which were on the Leopard, to board the ship. Because of this, the British attacked the Chesapeake, leading to America expelling all of Great Britain's ships from their waters until there was a formal apology. -
Embargo Act of 1807
Jefferson's attempt at fixing the tensions between America and Britain and France was to pass the Embargo Act which closed the ports to all exports and restricted the imports from Britain and France. The Embargo Act ultimately made things worse for the Americans because it hurt the American economy and led to smuggling. Because of the decrease in exports, all of the prices decreased heavily as well, leading to a worse economy. -
War Hawks
The significance of the War Hawks during the War of 1812 was that they were members of Congress who were all for war and urged James Madison to declare war. These War Hawks were mostly made up of supporters of the Democratic-Republican party and were mostly from the South and Western parts of the country. While the War Hawks wanted war with the British, they also wanted to take control of British Canada, which was still under the control of the King of England. -
Tecumseh
The Battle of Tippecanoe, which took place in Prophetstown, was supposed to be a peaceful talk with the Indians, but on November 7, the Prophet led 600 warriors to ambush the American soldiers. A couple hours later, William Henry Harrison ordered a counterattack, which pushed the Indians to retreat. The next day, the soldiers went into Prophetstown and set fire to all of the Indians' homes and possessions. This caused more resistance from the Indians and caused them to side with the British. -
War of 1812 Begins
The start of the war between Great Britain and America started on June 18 and lasted for over two years. The war started because of the impressment of American soldiers, as well as not agreeing on trade, expansion in the west, and what to do with the Native Americans. Once the Napoleonic Wars ended and the War of 1812 ended, the result was peace that has lasted for over 2 centuries. -
Tecumseh
During the War of 1812, the Indians sided with the British and fought against the United States after the Indians homes were destroyed by Americans during a battle. Tecumseh was the leader of the Native forces that were fighting with the British. During the Battle of Thames River, Tecumseh was killed, which marked the end of a lot of the Native resistance that was East of the Mississippi River. Once the resistance was stopped, the Indians were moved further West. -
Hartford Convention
The Hartford Convention was a secret convention between 26 Federalist delegates from 5 different states. These delegates met to discuss the increasing power of the Democratic-Republican party, as well as to list and talk about their grievances. The Federalists were initially going to vote for secession, but instead came up with 7 new amendments that they were going to try to put in the Constitution. These amendments were never constitutionally proposed or ratified. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was the treaty that formally ended the War of 1812. During the signing of this treaty, Great Britain relinquished the claims to the Northwest territory and the countries pledged to end the slave trade. -
Battle of New Orleans
This battle took place between the British and America. The British mostly focused on taking out Americas trade and transportation. First they took out Washington, when they couldn't take out Baltimore, they decided to move to New Orleans. After this, Andrew Jackson decided to form an army out of a bunch of different people, ranging from businessmen to smugglers. When Jackson and his army won the battle, it showed that American democracy was winning over the old ways of European ideology.