The War Of 1812
Uploaded by fatherflem on Mar 26, 2004
The times of Jefferson and Madison were a turbulent time for the United States. Many events took places that eventually lead to the War of 1812 with Britain. Many of the causes of the war happened in North America, but some reasons why we fought happened on the open seas or in Europe itself. The US was looking for a fight, and it got one.
The causes of the War of 1812 are many and varied. A big problem was the practice of “impressment”, it was supposed to find sailors that had deserted their respective navies. Most of the time though, it was just an excuse to steal goods and men. An incident that came about of this was the Chesapeake – Leopard fight. The Leopard had stopped the Chesapeake because of suspicions of deserters. The Chesapeake refused to stop; the Leopard fired its guns. The Chesapeake had no choice but to surrender, four men were dragged off The Chesapeake. If Congress would have been in session, war would have been declared right then. Another reason why we went to war was the Indian problem. Most of the time when Indians attacked, they were either supplied or incited by the British. The battle of Tippecanoe was an example of British agents working to incite and supply the Indians. A leader that emerged from this battle was William Henry Harrison. Harrison was the governor of Indiana, and was the leader of the force that crushed the Indians at Tippecanoe. Although Harrison lost as many men as the Indians did, he drove the Indians out and burned the Indian town of Prophetstown to the ground. William Henry Harrison became famous because of this battle. Many people in the United States wanted to go to drive the English from North America because of the constant Indian raids. The “War Hawks” wanted to go to war with England because of the Indian threat, the troubles on the open seas, and other reasons. The “War Hawks” were led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, both would play a large role in politics for years to come. The “War hawks” wanted to go to war as soon as possible, because Napoleon was currently fighting the English. It seemed like a good idea, because the best English troops and ships would be off fighting Napoleon. James Madison asked both England and France to stop stopping our ships....