Causes of the War of 1812

The War of 1812

Causes of the War of 1812

While the American Revolution was about freedom from tyranny and establishing an independent nation, the War of 1812 was fought for very different reasons. Its roots were related to trade restrictions, the future of American Indians and superiority on the high seas.

As a young and developing nation, the United States was trying to stay out of the conflict that was raging between France and Great Britain during the beginning of the nineteen-century. At the time these two countries were what we would now refer to as super powers. England's motives at the time were primarily to keep Napoleon, who had proven to be a brutal and capable military leader, from continuing his expansion of the French empire into both Eastern and Western Europe. Both countries were passing laws which affected control of seaports in an attempt to hurt each other's trading and expansion capabilities, but which also negatively impacted neutral nations including the United States.

First, France closed all ports in mainland Europe to the British. The British, in turn, developed a plan that forced any neutral ship, such as an American one, to stop in Great Britain before heading to other European ports. The neutral ship was to pay a duty on its cargo and the British would capture any ship that didn't follow these orders. In response to this, the French then said they would seize any ship entering or leaving a British port. This obviously put United States shipping in a precarious position and caused both American shipbuilders and tradesmen to lose money.

While U.S. leaders were upset with the restrictions imposed by both England and France, they were enraged by the British practice known as impressment. British military ships were stopping American trade ships at sea. The British then forced American sailors to come and work on the British ships. The British said they were just taking back British sailors who had deserted, or illegally left, their navy. This may have been the case sometimes, but the British weren't careful about whom they took. They often ended up capturing American-born sailors. In the eyes of the United States, the British were kidnapping American sailors. (Schultz, 2007)

The practice of impressment took on new dimensions in 1807 when the heavily armed British frigate Leopard opened fire on the unprepared U.S. flagship Chesapeake. This outrageous act incensed the American populace. President Thomas Jefferson could have gone to war immediately, but he was content merely to proclaim the British warships unwelcome visitors in U.S. ports. He did not believe the time had come for hostilities and was wedded to the concept of economic warfare.

While many in the U.S. felt that there was adequate reason to declare war on England, cooler heads prevailed for several years. Most of the reluctance to enter the war came from New England were merchants were more dependent on overseas trade than other parts of the new nation. There was concern that an out and out war with England would devastate the New England growing economy and there was also heavy opposition to the proposition of war came from a political party known as the Federalists. (Hoey, 2000)

Declaration of War

Pressure to declare war on England came from many of the settlers who were trying to establish themselves in the Midwest states of Indiana and Ohio. There were suspicions that England was supporting the American Indians who were resisting American settlement into their land. In November of 1811, Indians attacked American soldiers at the Battle of Tippecanoe, near Lafayette, Indiana. After the battle British guns were found on the battlefield, which confirmed the earlier suspicions.

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