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| :''This page refers to the war between the ] and ]. For Napoleon's 1812 Invasion of Russia, see ].'' | |||
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| !colspan=2 bgcolor=#B0C4DE style="font-size:+2"|'''The War of 1812''' | |||
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| |Date||1812—1815 | |||
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| |Result||] ('']'') | |||
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| !colspan=2 bgcolor=#eeeeee|Combatants | |||
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| | width=50%|] ] | |||
| | width=50%|] ] | |||
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| !colspan=2 bgcolor=#eeeeee|Manpower | |||
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| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>United States</u><br /> | |||
| Regular army: 99,000<br /> | |||
| Volunteers: 10,000*<br /> | |||
| Rangers: 3,000<br /> | |||
| Militia: 458,000**<br /> | |||
| Naval and marine: 20,000 | |||
| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Great Britain</u> | |||
| Regular army: 10,000+<br /> | |||
| Naval and marine: ? <br /> | |||
| Canadian militia: 86,000+** | |||
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| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Indigenous peoples</u><br /> | |||
| New York Iroquois: 600<br /> | |||
| Northwestern allies: ?<br /> | |||
| Southern allies: ? | |||
| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Indigenous peoples</u>: 3,500? | |||
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| !colspan=2 bgcolor=#eeeeee|Casualties | |||
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| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>United States</u>:<br /> | |||
| Killed in action: 2,260 <br /> | |||
| Wounded in action: 4,505 <br /> | |||
| Executed: 205+<br /> | |||
| Other deaths: 17,000<br /> | |||
| Civilian deaths: 500?<br /><br /> | |||
| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Great Britain</u> | |||
| 5,000 killed or wounded | |||
| |- | |||
| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Indigenous peoples</u>: ? | |||
| |style="vertical-align:top"|<u>Indigenous peoples</u>: ? | |||
| |- | |||
| |colspan=2 bgcolor=#eeeeee|*Volunteers were semi-professional troops<br>**Most militia did not participate in fighting or campaigning | |||
| |} | |||
| |} | |||
| The '''War of 1812''' was fought between the ] and ] from ] to ], on land in ] and at sea around the world. Some history books refer to this war as the "War of 1812-14", using the date of the peace treaty as the ending date of the war. | |||
| ==Overview== | |||
| On the Great Lakes border, more than half of the British forces were made up of ] ]. Additionally, many ] peoples (today most often called "]" in the United States and "]" in Canada) fought on both sides of the war for reasons of their own. In the ], the War was, in a sense, a continuation of ] after his defeat in the ] in 1811. | |||
| The war formally began on ] ] with the U.S. ]. The United States launched invasions of the Canadian provinces in 1812 and 1813, but the borders were successfully defended by British and North American Indian forces. The United States gained the upper hand in the North American Indian part of war with victories at the ] in October 1813 and the ] in March 1814, but, by this time, the United Kingdom had successfully concluded the ] and the British were finally able to divert more resources to North America. British invasions of American territory resulted in the ] and the capture of part of the ], but the British counteroffensive was turned back at ], ], and ]. The ] (ratified in 1815) restored the '']'' between the combatants. | |||
| The War of 1812 ended as a ] and it is often only dimly remembered in Britain. It had many effects on the futures of those involved. The war created a greater sense of nationalism in both Canada and the United States. The successful defense of the Canadian provinces against American invasion ultimately ensured the survival of Canada as a nation, and the end of the war marked the decline of a longstanding desire of many Americans to see the British Empire expelled entirely from North America. Peace between the United States and British North America also meant that North American Indians could no longer use conflicts between the two powers to defend native lands against the expansion of white settlement. | |||
| ==Origins of the War of 1812== | |||
| {{main article|]}} | |||
| The war was a result of two major causes: a dispute over repeated violations of American ] by Great Britain, and American ], a desire by some Americans to expand their territory and population by conquering Great Britain's Canadian colonies. | |||
| The British Canadian colonies were lightly populated and poorly defended compared to the crowded American states to their south, and many of the settlers were Americans by birth and believed to remain sympathetic to the United States. Some Americans argued that the majority of the population in the British colonies would rise up and greet an American invading army as liberators, and that, as ] suggested in 1812, "the acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us the experience for the attack on Halifax, the next and final expulsion of England from the American continent." The belief that the United States was destined to control all of the North American continent would later gain the name ], but that term was not yet in use at the time of the war. However, the British did have certain advantages, such as having twice as many people and better infrastructure on the north bank of the upper St Lawrence River than the Americans had along the southern bank. Indeed for those living in upstate New York, it was easier for people and goods to travel to Kingston and Montreal, rather than New York City and other points south. | |||
| Meanwhile, the United States had grievances against Great Britain for sovereignty violations in three areas: | |||
| # Britain's refusal to surrender western forts promised to the United States in the 1783 ], which ended the ], together with allegations that Britain was arming North American Indians fighting against them on the western frontier; | |||
| # The stopping of American ships by the ] on the high seas to search for ], and the ] of ] who had been born as British subjects but later naturalized as American citizens; and | |||
| # The ]s by ] and ] during the ], which resulted in the seizing of hundreds of American merchant ships. | |||
| In 1795, the ] with Britain and the ] with the North American Indians temporarily resolved the conflict on the Northwestern frontier; however, the ] of 1806 dealt only with trade, not impressment, and was not ratified by the ]. Continuing embargos and the ] of 1807 (which resulted in the deaths of three American seamen under attack by a British ship) further aggravated tensions between the two countries. | |||
| In 1811, in the ], a loose political faction called the '']'', under the leadership of speaker ], began agitating for a declaration of war against Britain, both as a response to real grievances and as an opportunity to acquire the British Canadian colonies. After a speech by President ] to Congress, on June 18, 1812, Congress voted to declare war. Interesting enough, Great Britain had revoked the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war, but the news of this arrived only after war was declared. | |||
| Some historians, such as Robin Reilly, have argued that the declaration of war on Great Britain by the United States was a victory for French diplomacy, forcing Britain to divert its attention and some resources from continental matters. | |||
| ==Course of the War== | |||
| ], where ] was inspired to write "]".]] | |||
| Although the outbreak of the war had been preceded by years of angry diplomatic dispute, neither side was ready for war when it came. The ] was still hard pressed by the ], and was compelled to retain the greater part of her forces and her best crews in European waters. The British ] in North America was instructed to limit offensive action in order to limit the expansion of any conflict that would require the movement of forces from Britain, Europe or other British colonies. The total number of British regular troops present in ] in July 1812 was officially stated to be 5,004, supported by some Canadian militia. During the war, successes against Napoleon left the United Kingdom free to send an overwhelming force of ships to American waters. | |||
| The ] was also unready to prosecute a war. In 1812, the regular army consisted of fewer than 12,000 men. Congress authorized the expansion of the army to 35,000 men, but the service was voluntary and unpopular, and there was an almost total lack of trained and experienced officers. The ], called in to aid the regulars, objected to serving outside their home states, were not amenable to discipline and, as a rule, performed poorly in the presence of the enemy. | |||
| The war was conducted in four theatres of operations: | |||
| #The Atlantic Ocean | |||
| #The Great Lakes and the Canadian frontier | |||
| #The coast of the United States | |||
| #The Southern States | |||
| ===Operations on the oceans=== | |||
| Britain had long been the world's preeminent naval power, confirmed by its victory over the French (and their Spanish allies) at the ] in 1805. In 1812, the Royal Navy had ninety-seven vessels in American waters. Of these, eleven were ] and thirty-four were ]. In contrast, the ], which was not yet twenty years old, had only twenty-two commissioned vessels, the largest of which were frigates, though a number of the American ships were 44-gun frigates and very heavily built compared to the usual British 38-gun frigates. | |||
| The strategy of the British was to protect its own merchant shipping to and from Canada, and enforce a ] of major American ports to restrict American trade. Due to their numerical inferiority, the Americans aimed to cause disruption through ], such as the capture of ]s and only engaging Royal Navy vessels under favourable circumstances. | |||
| The Americans experienced much early success. On ], 1812, three days after the formal declaration of war, two small squadrons left ]. The ships included the frigate ] and the ] ] under Commodore ] (who had general command), and the frigates ] and ], with the ] ] under Captain ]. | |||
| Two days later, ''Hornet'' gave chase to the British frigate ]. ''Belvidera'' eventually escaped to ], after discarding all unnecessary cargo overboard. ''Hornet'' returned to ] by ]. Meanwhile, ], commanded by Captain ], sailed from the ], on ], without orders so as to avoid being blockaded. On ], a British squadron gave chase. ''Constitution'' evaded its pursuers after two days, and later retired at Boston. On ] ''Constitution'' engaged the British frigate ]. After a thirty five-minute battle, ''Guerriere'' had been dismasted and captured, and was later burned. | |||
| On ], the USS ''United States'', commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the British frigate ], which he carried back to port. At the close of the month, ''Constitution'' sailed south under the command of Captain ]. On ], off ], ], it met the British frigate ], which was carrying General Hislop, the governor of ], to ]. After a battle lasting three hours, ''Java'' ] and was burned after being judged unsalvageable. | |||
| In January 1813, the American frigate ], under the command of Captain ], sailed into the Pacific in an attempt to harass British shipping. Many British whaling ships carried ] allowing them to prey on American whalers, nearly destroying the industry. ''Essex'' challenged this practice. She inflicted an estimated $3,000,000 damage on British interests before she was captured off ], ], by the British frigate ] and the sloop ] on ], 1814. | |||
| In all of these actions, except the one in which ''Essex'' was taken, the Americans had the advantage of greater size and heavier guns. Despite the greater experience in naval combat of the British, a large proportion of their seamen had been ]. This contrasted with the Americans who were all volunteers, which may have given the Americans an edge in morale and seamanship. | |||
| The capture of three British frigates was a blow to the British and stimulated them to greater exertions. More vessels were deployed on the American seaboard and the blockade tightened. On ] ], the frigate ] was captured by the British frigate ] as it attempted to leave ]. This somewhat offset the blow to morale caused by previous disasters. The blockade of American ports had tightened to the extent that the United States ships found it increasingly difficult to sail without meeting forces of superior strength. Because of this the Royal Navy was able to transport British Army troops to American shores, paving the way for their attack on Washington D.C. which became known as the ] in 1814. | |||
| The operations of American ]s were extensive. They continued until the close of the war and were only partially affected by the strict enforcement of ] by the Royal Navy. An example of the audacity of the American cruisers was the capture of the American sloop ] at ] in ] by the more heavily armed British sloop ], on ], 1813. | |||
| ===Operations on the Great Lakes and Canadian border=== | |||
| ====Invasions of Canada, 1812==== | |||
| ] | |||
| While they had expected little from their tiny navy, the American people had assumed that Canada could be easily overrun. Former U.S. President ] dismissively referred to the conquest of Canada as "a matter of marching." However, in the opening stages of the conflict, British military experience prevailed over inexperienced American commanders. | |||
| Geography dictated that operations would take place in the West principally around Lake Erie, near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and near Saint Lawrence River area and Lake Champlain. This would be the focus of the three pronged attacks by the Americans in 1812. | |||
| Although cutting the St. Lawrence River through the capture of Montreal and Quebec would make Britain's hold in Canada unsustainable, operations in the West began first due to the general popularity of war with the British there. | |||
| The British scored an important early success, when their detachment at Saint Joseph Island on ] learned of the declaration of war before the nearby American garrison at the important trading post at ] in ] did. A scratch force landed on the island on July 17, 1812, and mounted a gun overlooking the ]. The Americans, taken by surprise, surrendered. This early victory encouraged the Indians, and large numbers of them moved to help the British at ]. | |||
| The American Brigadier General ] had invaded Canada on July 12, 1812 from ], with an army mainly composed of militiamen, but turned back after his supply lines were threatened in the Battles of ] and ]. British Major General ] sent false correspondence and allowed it to be captured by the Americans, saying they required only 5,000 Native warriors to capture Detroit. Hull was deathly afraid of North American Indians and some tribes' practice of ]. Hull ] on August 16. | |||
| Brock promptly transferred himself to the eastern end of ], where the American General ] was attempting a second invasion. Brock fell in action on October 13 at the ], where the Americans were defeated largely because the militia refused to reinforce the regulars, citing Constitutional reasons. While the professionalism of the American forces would improve by the war's end, British leadership suffered after Brock's death. | |||
| A final attempt in 1812 by the American General ] to advance north from ] failed ingloriously when his militia too refused to advance beyond American territory. In contrast to the American militia, the Canadian militia performed well. ], who found the anti-Catholic stance of most of the United States troublesome, and ], who had fought for the Crown during the ] and had settled primarily in ], strongly opposed the American invasion. However, a large segment of Upper Canada's population were recent settlers from the United States who had no such loyalties to the Crown, but American forces found, to their dismay, that most of the colony took up arms against them. | |||
| ====American Northwest, 1813==== | |||
| After Hull's surrender, General ] was given command of the American Army of the Northwest. He set out to retake Detroit, which was now defended by Colonel ] in conjunction with ]. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at ] along the ] on January 22, 1813. Procter left the prisoners in custody of a few North American Indians, who then proceeded to execute perhaps as many as sixty American prisoners, an event which became known as the "River Raisin Massacre." The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, and the phrase "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans. | |||
| ]'s message to ] after the ] began with what would become one of the most famous sentences in American military history: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." This 1865 painting by William H. Powell shows Perry transferring to a different ship during the battle.]] | |||
| In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set ] in northern ]. American reinforcements arriving during the siege were defeated by the Indians, but the fort held out. The Indians eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada. A second offensive against Fort Meigs also failed in July. In an attempt to improve Indian morale, Procter and Tecumseh attempted to ], a small American post on the Sandusky River, only to be repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign. | |||
| On ], the American commander Captain ] fought the ] on September 10, 1813. His decisive victory ensured American control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats, and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This paved the way for General Harrison to launch another invasion of Canada, which culminated in the U.S. victory at the ] on October 5, 1813, in which Tecumseh was killed. Tecumseh's death effectively ended the North American Indian alliance with the British in the Detroit region. The Americans would control Detroit and Amherstburg for the duration of the war. | |||
| ====The Niagara Frontier, 1813==== | |||
| Because of the difficulties of land communications, control of the ] and the ] corridor was crucial, and so both sides spent the winter of 1812-13 building ships. The Americans, who had far greater shipbuilding facilities than the British, nevertheless had not taken advantage of this before the war, and had fallen behind. By September 1814, the British would launch the largest ship built during the war, HMS ''St Lawrence''. | |||
| On April 27, 1813, American forces ] ] (now called ]), the capital of Upper Canada, including the Parliament Buildings. However, ] was strategically more valuable, and vital to British supply and communications along the St Lawrence. Without control of Kingston, the American navy could not effectively control ] or sever the British supply line from Quebec. | |||
| On May 27, 1813, an American amphibious force from Lake Ontario assaulted ] on the northern end of the ] and captured it without serious losses. The retreating British forces were not pursued, however, until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive against the advancing Americans at the ] on June 5. On June 24, with the help of advance warning by ] ], another American force was bluffed into surrender by a much smaller British and Indian force at the ], marking the end of the American offensive into Central Canada. | |||
| On Lake Ontario, Sir ] took command on May 15, 1813 and created a more mobile though less powerful force than the Americans under ]. An early attack on ] by Yeo and Governor General Sir ] was repulsed. Three naval engagements in August and September led to no decisive result. | |||
| By 1814, Yeo had constructed the ], a ] ] of 102 guns which gave him superiority, and the British became masters of Lake Ontario. The burning by the American General McClure, on December 10, 1813, of Newark (now ]), led to British retaliation and similar destruction at ], on December 30, 1813. | |||
| ====The St. Lawrence and Lower Canada==== | |||
| ]), John Tutela, and Young Warner, three ] War of 1812 veterans.]] | |||
| The Americans made little attempt to bar the Saint Lawrence to British traffic at the point where it was also the frontier between Canada and the United States. British supplies and reinforcements were able to move to Upper Canada with little difficulty. | |||
| Early in 1813, there was a series of raids and counter-raids between ] in Canada and ] on the American side of the river. On February 21, Sir George Prevost passed through Prescott with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements ] and looted Ogdensburg. For the rest of the year, Ogdensburg had no American garrison and the British freely obtained goods there, while many residents of Ogdensburg recommenced visits and trade with Prescott. More importantly, the British victory removed the last American regular troops from the Upper St Lawrence frontier and helped secure British communications with Montreal. | |||
| Late in 1813, after much argument, the Americans made two thrusts against ]. The plan eventually agreed upon was for Major-General ] to march north from ] and join with a force under General ] which would sail from ] on Lake Ontario and descend the Saint Lawrence. | |||
| Hampton was delayed by bad roads and supply problems and an intense dislike of Wilkinson, which limited his desire to support his plan. On October 25, his 4,000-strong force was defeated at the ] by ] force of less than 500 French-Canadian ] and ]. | |||
| Wilkinson's force of 8,000 sailed on October 17, but was also held up by bad weather. After learning that Hampton had been checked, Wilkinson heard that a British force under Captain ] and Lieutenant-Colonel ] was pursuing him, and by November 10 he was forced to land near ], about 150 kilometers from Montreal. On November 11, Wilkinson's rearguard, numbering 2,500, attacked Morrison's force of 800 at ], and was repulsed with heavy losses. After learning that Hampton was unable to renew his advance, Wilkinson subsequently retreated back to the U.S. and settled down into winter quarters. | |||
| ====Niagara Campaign, Battle of Lake Champlain, 1814==== | |||
| By 1814, American generals, including Major Generals ] and ], had drastically improved the fighting abilities and discipline of the army. Their renewed attack on the Niagara peninsula quickly captured ]. Winfield Scott then gained a decisive victory over an equal British force at the ] on July 5. An attempt to advance further ended with a hard-fought drawn battle at ] on July 25. The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged ]. The British raised the siege, but lack of provisions forced the Americans to retreat across the Niagara. | |||
| Meanwhile, following the abdication of Napoleon, British troops no longer needed in Europe began arriving in North America. Less than half were veterans of the Peninsula and the remainder came from various garrisons. Along with the troops came instructions for a number of offensives against the United States. British strategy was undergoing a fundemental change, and like the Americans, the British were seeking leverage for the peace negotiations underway in ]. Governor-General Sir ] was instructed to launch an offensive into the United States. However, his invasion was repulsed by the naval ] in Plattsburgh Bay on September 11, 1814 which gave the Americans control of ]. ] later termed it the greatest naval battle of the war. | |||
| ====The West, 1814==== | |||
| Little of note took place on ] in 1813, but the American victory on Lake Erie cut off the British from their supplies. During the winter, a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel ] established a new supply line from York to ] on ]. When he arrived at ] with reinforcements, he sent an expedition to recapture the trading post of ] in the far West. | |||
| In 1814, the Americans sent a force of six vessels from ] to recapture ]. A mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on July 4. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and while marching to attack the fort, were ambushed by Indians and forced to re-embark. | |||
| The Americans now discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay, and, on August 13, they destroyed its fortifications and a schooner they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Michilimackinac. On September 4, these gunboats were taken unawares and captured by enemy boarding parties from canoes and small boats. These prizes now re-established the British supply line from Nottawasaga Bay. | |||
| The British garrison at Prairie du Chien also fought off an attack by Major ]. In this distant theatre, the British retained the upper hand till the end of the war, due mainly to the allegiance of several Indian tribes they supplied with arms and gifts. | |||
| ===The American coast=== | |||
| When the war began, the British naval forces had some difficulty in blockading the whole U.S. coast, and they were also preoccupied in their pursuit of American privateers. The British government, having need of American foodstuffs for its army in ], benefitted from the willingness of the New Englanders to trade with them, and so no blockade of ] was at first attempted. The ] and ] were declared in a state of blockade on December 26, 1812. This was extended to the whole coast south of ] by November 1813, and to the whole American coast on May 31, 1814. In the meantime, much illicit trade was carried on by collusive captures arranged between American traders and British officers. American ships were fraudulently transferred to neutral flags. Eventually the United States government was driven to issue orders for the purpose of stopping illicit trading. This only helped to further ruin the commerce of the country. The overpowering strength of the British fleet enabled it to occupy the Chesapeake, and to attack and destroy numerous docks and harbors. | |||
| One of the most forgotten battles on the American coast was the occupation of the ]. From the proding of the British Colony of ], Maine was an important conquest by the British. The border between New Brunswick and the United States had never been adequately settled after the American Revolution. A military victory in Maine by the British could represent a large gain in territory for New Brunswick, but more immediately assured communication with ] via the ] and the ]. The war would not settle this border dispute and, when Maine became a state in 1820, would lead to a border crisis, called the ]. The border between Maine and New Brunswick would not finally be settled until 1842 and the "]". | |||
| In September 1814, Sir ] led a British Army into eastern Maine and was sucessful in capturing Castine, Hamden, Bangor, and Machais. The Americans were given the option of swearing alegiance to the King or quitting the country. The vast majority swore allegiance and were even permitted to keep their firearms. This is the only large tract of territory held by either side at the conclusion of the war and was given back to the United States by the ]. The British did not leave Maine until April 1815, at which time they took large sums of money retained from duties in occupied Maine, back to ]. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used in the establishment of ], in ], Nova Scotia, and is a lasting reminder of the War of 1812. | |||
| ====Chesapeake campaign, The Star-Spangled Banner==== | |||
| The best known of the destructive British raids was the "]" (the burning of public buildings, including the ], in Washington) by Admiral Sir ] and General ]. This expedition was carried out between ] and ], 1814. On the 24th, the inexperienced American militia, who had collected at ], ] to protect the capital, were soundly defeated, opening the route to Washington. While ] saved valuables from the White House, President ] was forced to flee to Virginia; American morale was reduced to an all-time low. The British viewed their actions as fair retaliation for the Americans' burning of York (later renamed ]) in 1813, although there are suggestions that the burning was in retaliation of destructive American raids into other parts of ]. | |||
| Having destroyed Washington's public buildings, the British army next moved to capture ], a busy port and a key base for American privateers. The subsequent ] began with a British landing at North Point, but the attack was repulsed and General Ross was killed. The British also attempted to attack Baltimore by sea on ], but were unable to reduce ], at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor. The defense of the fort inspired the American lawyer ] to write a poem that would eventually supply the lyrics to "]," the national anthem of the United States. | |||
| ===The American South=== | |||
| As one historian wrote: | |||
| :''We speak of the War of 1812, but in truth there were two wars. The war between the Americans and the British ended with the treaty of Ghent. The war between the Big Knives and the Indians began at Tippecanoe, and arguably did not run its course until the last Red Sticks were defeated in the Florida swamps in 1818.''{{fn|5}} | |||
| In March of 1814, General ] led a force of Tennessee militia, ] warriors, and U.S. regulars southward to attack the ] tribes, led by Chief ]. While some of the Creeks had been British allies in the past, the fighting was related to control of Creek land in ] rather than the British-American conflict. On March 26, Jackson and General ] fought the Creeks at ], killing 800 of 1,000 Creeks at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded of approximately 2,000 American and Cherokee forces. Jackson pursued the surviving Creeks to ], near present-day ], where they surrendered. | |||
| :''For a more detailed discussion, see the article ]. | |||
| ===The Treaty of Ghent and the Battle of New Orleans=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Jackson's forces moved to ], ] in November 1814. Between December 1814 and January 1815, he defended the city against a force led by Major-General ], who was killed in an assault on January 8, 1815. The ] was hailed as a great victory in the United States, making Andrew Jackson a national hero, eventually propelling him to the ]. | |||
| Meanwhile, diplomats in ], ] signed the ] on December 24, 1814, paving the way for the official end of the war. News of the treaty had not reached New Orleans, because of the slow nature of international communications. On February 17, 1815, President Madison signed the American ratification of the Treaty of Ghent, and the treaty was proclaimed the following day. | |||
| By the terms of the treaty, all land captured by either side was returned to the previous owner, the Americans received fishing rights in the gulf of the ], and all outstanding debts and property taken was to be returned or paid for in full. Later that year, ] complained that British naval commanders had violated the terms of the treaty by not returning American slaves captured during the war, since the British did not recognize slaves as property . | |||
| ==Consequences== | |||
| The Treaty of Ghent established the '']''; there were no territorial concessions made by either side. Relations between the United States and Britain would remain peaceful, if not entirely tranquil, throughout the nineteenth century. Border adjustments between the United States and British Canada would be made in the ]. (A border dispute between the state of ] and the province of ] was settled in the bloodless ] in the 1830s.) The issue of impressing American seamen was made moot when the Royal Navy subsequently stopped impressment after the defeat of Napoleon. | |||
| This war was also the first and only time since the American Revolution that the US capital was invaded and occupied. | |||
| ===Effects on the United States=== | |||
| The United States did gain a measure of international respect for managing to battle the British Empire to a standstill. The morale of the citizens was high because they had fought one of the great military powers of the world and managed to survive, which increased feelings of nationalism; the war has often been called the "Second War of Independence." The war also contributed to the demise of the ], which had opposed the war. | |||
| A significant military development was the increased emphasis by General ] on improved professionalism in the U.S. Army officer corps, and in particular, the training of officers at the ] ("West Point"). This new professionalism would become apparent during the ] (1846–1848). After the ] by the US, the term ] became a widely used political term for those who propagated American expansionism and military pride, and despite not having taken over Canadian territory during the war, this fact kept political debate alive in the decades to follow about re-visiting exapansionism into ] territory. | |||
| In a related development, the ] (which at that time controlled West Point), began building fortifications around ], as a response to the British attack on the city during the war. This effort then grew into numerous civil river works, especially in the 1840s and 1850s under General ]. The Corps continues to be the authority over Mississippi (and other) river works to this day. | |||
| The War of 1812 had a dramatic effect on the manufacturing capabilities of the United States. The British blockade of the American coast created a shortage of ] cloth in the United States, leading to the creation of a cotton-manufacturing industry, beginning at ] by ]. | |||
| The Southwestern campaign led to increasing contact and conflict with the ] in ]. The subsequent ] eventually lead to American ] of ] in 1819. | |||
| ===Effects on Canada=== | |||
| The War of 1812 had little impact in Great Britain but this was not the case in Canada, where the war had been a matter of national survival. The war united the French-speaking and English-speaking colonies against a common enemy and some pride of being largely successful in repulsing the invaders, giving many inhabitants a sense of nationhood as well as a sense of loyalty to Britain. At the beginning of the War of 1812 it is estimated that perhaps one third of the inhabitants of Upper Canada were American born. Some were ] but others had simply come for low-cost land and had little loyalty to the British Crown, however many felt the common threat of invasion. For instance, ] was originally an American immigrant to Upper Canada, but did not hesitate to make her arduous trek to warn the British forces of a pending attack by her former country. | |||
| This nationalistic sentiment also caused a great deal of suspicion of American ideas like ] and ] which would frustrate political reform in Upper and Lower Canada until the ]. However, the War of 1812 also started the process that ultimately led to ] in 1867. Although later events such as the rebellions and the ] of the 1860s were more directly pivotal, Canadian historian ] has written that if the War of 1812 had never happened Canada would be part of the United States today, as more and more American settlers would have arrived, and Canadian nationalism would never have developed. | |||
| A related idea that developed out of the war was that Canadian militiamen had performed admirably while the British officers were largely ineffective. ] has termed this the "Militia Myth", and he feels it has had a deep impact on Canadian military thinking, which placed more stress on a citizen's militia than a professional standing army — the U.S. suffered from a similar Frontiersman Myth at the start of the war, believing falsely that individual initiative and marksmanship could be effective against a well-disciplined British battle line. Granatstein feels that the militia was not particularly effective in the war and that any military success the British Empire had was by British regular forces and through British dominion over the sea (], for example, was reluctant even to trust the militia with muskets); likewise, the U.S. army won most of its land victories late in the war, only after it trained its troops to fight in disciplined lines like the British and other European armies. | |||
| During the war, British officers constantly worried that the Americans would block the ], which is narrow and forms a large part of the border with the U.S. If the U.S. military had done so, there would have been no British supply route for ] (where most of the land battles took place), and British forces would likely have had to withdraw or surrender all western British territory within a few months. British officers' dispatches after the war show astonishment that the Americans never took such a simple step, but the British were not willing to count on the enemy making the same mistake a second time; as a result, Britain commissioned the ], an expensive project connecting ] on ] to the ], providing an alternate supply route bypassing the part of the St. Lawrence River along the U.S. border. The settlement at the northeastern end of the canal, where it joins the Ottawa River, later became the city of ], Canada's fourth-largest city and its capital (placed inland to protect it from U.S. invasion - known then as the 'defensible backcountry'). Because population away from the St. Lawrence shores was neglible, in the years following the war, the British took great lengths in ensuring backcountry settlement was increased. They settled regiment soldiers and initiated assisted immigration schemes offering free land to farmers, mostly tenants of land estates in the south of Ireland. The canal project was not completed until ] and was never used for its intended purpose. | |||
| It is interesting to note that the Americans had drafted a plan in late 1814 for severing the Upper St Lawrence River during 1815 and it is interesting to speculate what may have occured had the war continued through 1815. | |||
| ===Effects on Great Britain=== | |||
| In contrast to Canada, the War is scarcely remembered in Britain today. Chiefly, this is because it was overshadowed by the dramatic events of the contemporary Napoleonic wars, and because Britain herself neither gained nor lost by the peace settlement. | |||
| The Royal Navy was acutely conscious that the United States Navy had won most of the single-ship duels during the War, sometimes by a humiliating margin. Also, American privateers and commerce raiders had captured large numbers of British merchant ships, sending insurance rates up and embarrassing the ]. On the other hand, the Royal Navy had been able to deploy overwhelming strength to American waters, annihilating rather than denting American maritime trade. The Royal Navy made some changes to its practices in construction and gunnery, but did not change its methods of manning. | |||
| The British Army also regarded the conflict in Canada and America as a sideshow, and was content with the lessons of the ]. The few reverses in Canada and at New Orleans could be attributed to poor leadership or insuperable physical obstacles. Due to the success and pre-eminence of the ], the British army was to make no change to its systems of recruitment and commissioning for more than half a century. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| ===Overviews=== | |||
| * Benn, Carl. ''The War of 1812'' (2003) | |||
| * Borneman, Walter R. ''1812: The War That Forged a Nation'' (2004), popular | |||
| * Heidler, Donald & J, (eds) ''Encyclopedia of the War of 1812'' (1997) | |||
| * Hickey, Donald. ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict''. ISBN 0252016130 (hardcover); ISBN 0252060598 (1990 paperback). | |||
| ===Causes and Diplomacy=== | |||
| * Brown, Roger H. ''The Republic in Peril: 1812'' 1964. | |||
| * Goodman, Warren H. "The Origins of the War of 1812: A Survey of Changing Interpretations," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', XXVIII (September, 1941), 171-86. in JSTOR | |||
| * Hacker, Louis M. "Western Land Hunger and the War of 1812," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', X (March, 1924), 365-95. in JSTOR | |||
| * Horsman, Reginald. ''The Causes of the War of 1812''. 1962. ISBN 0374939608 (1972 printing); ISBN 0498040879 (2000 printing). | |||
| * Perkins, Bradford. ''Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805-1812''. 1961. | |||
| * Pratt, Julius W. ''Expansionists of 1812''. 1925. | |||
| * Pratt, Julius W. "Western War Aims in the War of 1812," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', XII (June, 1925), 36-50. in JSTOR | |||
| * Risjord, Norman K. "1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nation's Honor," ''William and Mary Quarterly'', 3d ser., XVIII ( April, 1961), 196-210. in JSTOR | |||
| * Marshall Smelser. ''The Democratic Republic 1801-1815'' (1968). | |||
| * Rutland, Robert A. ''The Presidency of James Madison'' (1990) | |||
| * Stagg, John C. A. ''Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American republic, 1783-1830''. (1983). | |||
| ** | |||
| ** in JSTOR | |||
| * Taylor, George Rogers, ed. ''The War of 1812: Past Justifications and Present Interpretations'' (1963) | |||
| ===Military and Naval=== | |||
| * Berube, Claude G. and Rodgaard, John R., ''A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution.'' (2005) | |||
| * Elting, John R. ''Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812''. 1991. ISBN 0945575084 (hardcover); ISBN 0306806533 (1995 Da Capo Press paperback). | |||
| * Hickey, Donald. ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict''. 1989. ISBN 0252016130 (hardcover); ISBN 0252060598 (1990 paperback). | |||
| * Mahan, Alfred Thayer. ''The influence of sea power upon the War of 1812'' 2 vols (1905) | |||
| * Owsley, Frank. ''Struggle for the Gulf borderlands: the Creek War and the battle of New Orleans 1812-1815'' (1981) | |||
| * Quimby, R., ''The US Army in the War of 1812: an operational and command study'' 2 vols (1997) | |||
| * Remini, Robert V. ''Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire, 1767-1821'' (1998) | |||
| * Remini, Robert V. ''The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory'' (1999) | |||
| * ]. at ]. ''The Naval War of 1812'' (1882). Da Capo Press, 1999. ISBN 0306809109 (paperback) | |||
| * Skelton, William. 'High army leadership in the era of the War of 1812: the making and remaking of the officer corps,' ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 51 (1994) in JSTOR | |||
| * Stagg, J., 'Enlisted men in the United States Army 1812-1815,' William and Mary Quarterly 43 (1986) in JSTOR | |||
| * Stagg, J., 'Between Black Rock and a hard place: Peter B. Porter's plan for an American invasion of Canada in 1812,' Journal of the Early Republic 19 (1999) in JSTOR | |||
| * Stagg, J., 'Soldiers in peace and war: comparative perspectives on the recruitment of the United States Army, 1802-1815,' William and Mary Quarterly 57 (2000) in JSTOR | |||
| ===Canadian-US-Indian=== | |||
| * Allen, Robert S. "His Majesty's Indian Allies: Native Peoples, the British Crown, and the War of 1812" in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 14:2 (Fall 1988), pp 1-24. | |||
| * Benn, Carl. ''The Iroquois in the War of 1812''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. ISBN 0802043216 (hardcover); ISBN 0802081452 (paperback). | |||
| * ]. '']''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980. ISBN 0316092169. | |||
| *———. ''Flames Across the Border''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981. ISBN 0316092177 | |||
| * Burt, Alfred L. ''The United States, Great Britain, and British North America from the Revolution to the Establishment of Peace after the War of 1812''. (1940) | |||
| * Calloway, C. ''Crown and calumet: British-Indian relations, 1783-1815 ''(1987) | |||
| * Carter-Edwards, Dennis. "The War of 1812 Along the Detroit Frontier: A Canadian Perspective", in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 13:2 (Fall 1987), pp. 25-50. | |||
| *———. "On to Canada: Manifest Destiny and United States Strategy in the War of 1812" in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 13:2 (Fall 1987), pp. 1-24. | |||
| * Collins, G. ''Guidebook to the historic sites of the War of 1812'' (1998) | |||
| * Sugden, John. ''Tecumseh: A Life''. New York: Holt, 1997. ISBN 0805041389 (hardcover); ISBN 0805061215 (1999 paperback). | |||
| * Turner, W. ''British generals in the War of 1812: high command in the Canadas'' (1999) | |||
| * Zaslow, Morris (ed), ''The Defended Border''. (1964). ISBN 0770512429 | |||
| ===Primary Sources=== | |||
| * Dudley, W., (ed.) The naval War of 1812: a documentary history , 4 vols (1985-) | |||
| * Gellner, J. (ed), Recollections of the War of 1812: three eyewitnesses' accounts (1964) | |||
| * Graves, D. (ed), Merry hearts make light days: the War of 1812 journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur, 104th Foot (1993) | |||
| * Graves, D. (ed), Soldiers of 1814: American enlisted men's memoirs of the Niagara campaign (1996) | |||
| * Klinck, C. & Talman, J. (eds), The journal of Major John Norton, 1816 (1970) | |||
| * Wood, W. (ed), ''Select British documents of the Canadian War of 1812'', 4 vols (1920-28) | |||
| * {{1911}} | |||
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