The War of 1812
BY: Anna Dugan
CAUSES OF THE WAR
The first cause of war was impressment. Impressment is kidnapping of American Sailors by the British, this effected trade between The Americans, French,& British. Also leads to forcing of Americans to join British Military, this angered many. Secondly, Americans and Natives weren't getting along to well, so Natives went to the British in hopes of winning their land back. As tensions began to rise, the War Hawks/Natives both pressured their sides into beginning the war. Finally, Americans (mostly War Hawks) badly wanted Canada from the British, they figured the only way to establish that land would be to begin war & hopefully win this in the end.
War Hawks Poster
War of 1812 Poster
Growth of Us Manufacturing
Special of the War Hawks
War Hawks were a crew of young Republican members of Congress, the leaders were Henry Clay of Kentucky & John Calhoun of South Carolina, which represented the West & South. Their group was driven by hunger of expanding the land westward, they also supported the growth of the US military. Nationalism was a common quality in all of them which also led to their wanting of expansion towards the nation's power. Southerners wanted Spanish Florida, whereas War Hawks from the west wanted southern Canada. This group had a huge influential impact on the people, by promoting themselfs they convinced most Americans to agree with the War of 1812. This made James Madison have a huge fork in the road when it came to deciding to declare war or not. In conclusion, if we didn't have the War Hawks, we may have never started this war. Which is good for some reasons but also very bad.
Effects of the War
The first effect of the war is it increased American Patriotism. This happened by proving to other countries that this freshly established small country was capable of defending itself against a super power military (England). Although no one won the war, America proved their fearlessness & ambition to all countries outside of England/France. Second of all, their success had weakened the Natives resistance. Natives had always gone against America, in hopes they'd somehow get their land back. Americans quickly fought back with the Natives, in order to prove they will either join us or be demolished. Last but not least, after this war, America had begun to develop their manufacturing. Trade with England & France had become less dependent for America. During the war we were forced to create our own cloth manufacturing and other industries. Instead of using water ways to trade we created roads to move goods from one place to another. Finally, with debt from the war we were able to establish a Second National Bank of the United States.