Tiffany Pang

3/12/14
Pd.7
Explain how and why the United States went to war with the British in what is
now called the War of 1812
In the history of mankind, war has been fought all over the world. In the War
of 1812, it was described as a victorious "Second War for Independence" and was
used to define American identity, but the British only remember 1812 as the year that
Napoleon Marched into England. To the British, the problem with America was just
an annoying sideshow.
It all started in year 1803, when Napoleon declared war on Europe. He
wanted to control the land of Europe and wanted to re-create the mighty French
empire in the earlier days. He made rulers of other countries to sign treaties with him
to recognize his conquests and supporting his economic warfare against Britain. He
showed his intentions by conquering all of Europe and creating puppet states with
his allied kings in neighboring countries.
In year 1807, France controlled most of Europe. The French soldiers had
driven the British troops from the European continent and defeated most of Britain's
European allies. It seemed like a close French victory, but the British Navy still "ruled
the waves."
During this war, many American merchants enjoyed a rich trade selling war
supplies to both France and Great Britain, but great Britain later tried to cut off the
American trade with France. France had a big problem with this because America
was France's major source of supply.
To cut off the American trade with France, the British Parliament passed the
Orders in Council. They were laws that forbids American ships to enter French
controlled parts. Also, the British used this as a justification so their British Navy
could illegally stop and search American merchant ships on open seas. They
searched for French-bound cargo and many American sailors born in England were
accused of having betrayed the British navy. They also captured and kidnapped
these sailors to force them to serve in their army. They even took the cargos to use
for themselves because of their greediness. This British policy of impressment or
seizure, of American sailors deeply offended America's pride.
The Orders in Council was a foolish law. The British cannot pass a law that
only affects America. They could not enforce it, so it was pretty useless. Instead, they
used it to threaten the Americans with it. The government also made the Orders in
Council to look good in front of their people, but this did not stop the Americans from

selling and trading supplies. All these American merchants cared for was the money
involved with selling war supplies.
So later on to the reaction of the Orders in Council, Napoleon declared a
blockade against Great Britain. This blockade caused Napoleon to forbid all nations
to trade with Great Britain. France also threatened to seize any ship carrying British
cargo that entered French ports. Napoleon's plan was to form a blockade around
England using ships and he could easily do this because England was a island. On
the other hand, the British could not blockade France because it was part of a
continent. Instead, the British did a blockade on the U.S because there were water
routes that could be easily accessed and used to stop ships from getting out.
Still, the U.S refused to take sides. They preferred to remain neutral in the
European war. Americans felt its ships were free to sail the open seas. But, the U.S
was not really neutral. Instead they were mutual, which means to be in both circles.
The U.S was supplying both sides with food and war supplies. The textbook did state
that the U.S "preferred" to be neutral, but that does not mean they were really
neutral. If the U.S was really neutral, a government official like a president would
announce a war. So still, many American merchants took up the risky practice of
blockade running. They continued to do trading, but at the risk of getting attacked.
Then in the Summer of 1807, the British attacked the U.S.S. Chesapeake off
the coast of Virginia. This angered many Americans. During that time, the captain of
the U.S.S Chesapeake refused to allow the soldiers of the British ship Leopard on
board. So, Leopard opened fire which 20 American sailors were wounded, 3 killed
and 4 were kidnapped. The Captain's refusal was an example of nationalism which is
actually stupidity. It is to have pride in your country or place. Since he refused the
Chesapeake sunk. If he did not refused the whole crew would have been safe. This
explains how many Americans are arrogant which makes them think America will
protect them.
Since this was an action against American rights, President Thomas Jefferson
looked for peaceful ways to protect the American ships from an enemy attack
because the government's number one responsibility is to protect their people. So,
Jefferson closed the American ports to the British Navy. He suggested an embargo
which was an order that forbids any trade with foreign countries. When the Embargo
Act was put up, it removed American ships from the open seas, but some merchants
still ended up smuggling stuff. Then many farmers unable to sell their crops to
foreign markets lost money and many American sailors were put out of work.
After the Embargo Act was made, many American merchants asked for a
repeal of the Act because it canceled the trading and selling of merchandise which
harmed the economy. Also, many lost jobs and became poor from not earning money
off of shipping goods. So then Congress finally gave in to the pressure and lifted it on
March 1, 1809 which was a few days before Jefferson left the office.

As for this, more Americans were being seized by the British after the
Embargo Act was repealed. Also, many American merchants strongly disapproved of
that and pushed strongly for war. So much that they earned the name War Hawks.
Western settlers favored the war as a way to stop the British from lending support to
the Native Americans in the Northwest. One group protested that Congress should
uphold America's honor on the seas by forcibly removing the British camps that
stayed in America's Northwestern areas. But, the War Hawks true intention was to
have war so they would get a bigger demand on war supplies.
Concerning this, President James Madison then promised to stop trade with
the other nation if one of them (Britain/France) lifted their blockade. After, Napoleon
agreed to lift the French blockade, so Madison stopped trade with Britain. This led
British to have a difficult time because of poor harvests and many manufactures
were failing without supplies from the U.S. So, on June 23, 1812, the British withdrew
their Orders in Council, but it was too late. The U.S declared a war on them.
Overall, the U.S was already going to declare a war on the British because
they were telling the Americans what to do with the Orders in Council by threatening
them. The British also kidnapped sailors to scare the U.S more. Other reasons are
that American merchants lost money from the Embargo Act and many complained
about national pride. These are examples of what caused the War of 1812 to start.