The Reasons of United States Participation in the War of 1812 - Research Paper Example

 The Reasons of United States’ Participation in the War of 1812 I. Introduction This paper will discuss reasons for the US participation in the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was apparently a war fought between the US and the Great Britain without objective grounds for it. The war was in part a consequence of the successes of the French Army of Napoleon. The US maintained a neutral attitude in the war between France and the Great Britain in the start and conducted trade with both countries. One of the main strategies employed by the English was to limit the trade between France and the non-alliance countries because of the superior navy of the English. At that time, the US was providing France with most of the goods that she needed during the way. Using the power of her navy, the Great Britain blocked all ways by which the trade happened between the French coasts and the Caribbean and the US Atlantic coasts. The only vessels that were allowed to pass unimpeded to the US were those that had passed through one of the ports of the Great Britain. This raises many questions like; Why did the US enter into a war with the Great Britain despite conducting trade with it? What were the economic interests of the US to enter the war? And how popular was the war among the Americans? To address these questions, this paper will; first, discuss some of the consequences of the American Revolution and personal interests of the Americans, the Amerindians, and the British whose conflicts contributed to the commencement of the War of 1812; second, explain the strategies used by the Great Britain to restrict the export of the American goods to France that provided the US with an objective reason to start the war in national defence and explains that the firm support of the native Indian uprisings in the western territories of the US as well as in the continental US for the British government in Canada was a huge concern for the Americans, and third, briefly discusses the results of the war and the advantages and disadvantages of the participation of the Americans in the war. The advantages described there also highlight some of the potential reasons of the participation of the US in the War of 1812. II. Body The Revolutionary War was brought to an end as the Treaty of Paris was signed in the year 1783. As a result of the Revolutionary War, the US was established among the world’s nations. However, the Treaty of Paris neither provided any guarantee for the survival of the new nation nor guaranteed that the European powers would always respect the rights of the new nation. In order to be in the position to freely carry out the trade with all countries across the globe, the government of the US strived hard to strike a balance between diplomacy and preparedness of the military. From the year 1793 to the year 1815, the Great Britain and France saw a period of prolonged wars that instigated the French Revolution, and immensely complicated the tendency of the US to safeguard the rights of sailors and shipping. In addition to that, a significant population of the Americans along the western frontier of the nation believed that the Indian raids were encouraged by the British in Canada on their settlements. After the American Revolution, not everyone was satisfied with the way the land had been divided. The British and the Canadian merchants were both displeased over the loss of the Ohio River valley that encapsulated numerous routes through which trade could be conducted. Also, a large Amerindian population dwelled in the Ohio River valley, a major part of which had sided with the British during the American Revolution, and were by then willing to have an Indian state created toward the Lake Erie’s south and west. The idea was warmly welcomed by the British because it served numerous interests of the British. For one, this would facilitate the fur trade. In addition to that, it would serve as a barrier for the American armies and the American immigrants to the Upper Canada. Meanwhile, the Americans saw the support of the British for the Amerindians as a potential risk to their expansion. The British support for the Amerindians was also visualized as a hurdle in the way of converting the Indians into farmers that the Americans wanted to happen to use their land. A major portion of the population of the Americans was afraid of the provocation of the Amerindians by the British because the Amerindians were known for their brutality. As Chief Tecumseh, the new leader made efforts for the tribes’ unification, the fear of the Americans increased manifolds. A significant population of the Americans was of the view that since the frontier warfare with the Amerindians was incited by the British and a lot of settlers had been assassinated in this warfare, it was reason enough to break into a war with the Great Britain. As a result of this, a political faction that was referred to as the “War Hawks” surfaced. This small but persuasive faction was led by Henry Clay of Kentucky who had been elected to the Congress in the year 1810. Another potential source of tension surfaced between the US and the Great Britain with the demand of the War Hawks of opening a war with the Great Britain. Napoleon passed the order for the closure of all British ships to the European ports that were in his control in November of the year 1806. Later, the closure policy also included ships that were neutral and had entered the British port prior to their arrival at the continent. In reply to Napoleon’s moves, Britain passed numerous Orders in Council that made it obligatory for all neutral ships to be licensed in one of the British ports before their sale to Europe. This was essentially a contradiction and its meaning was that no one could remain neutral from that point onwards since all neutrals had to choose the country whose orders it would follow. The power of navy of the Great Britain was immense whereas the US economy was fundamentally linked with the trade with Europe. There had been several instances in which high-level government contact had been maintained between the US and France. By the year 1812, as many as 400 vessels belonging to the US had been captured by the British ships some of which had been in the sight of the American coast and were thus causing disruption in the American export trade. The Americans were frequently recruited to serve on the ships that belonged to the Great Britain. This was the reason why the War of 1812 was terms as the 2nd independence war by many Americans. The outrages in impressing American seamen exceed all manner of description. Indeed, the whole system of aggression now is such that the real question between Great Britain and the United States has ceased to be a question merely relating to certain rights of commerce ... it is now clearly, positively, and directly a question of independence, that is to say, whether the United States are really and independent nation. (John Clopton of Virginia cited in Turner 22). The native Indian uprisings in the western territories of the US as well as in the continental US had firm support of the British government in Canada. As a result of this, the battle of Tippecanoe happened that aggravated the anti-British notion in the US. Although the Americans ultimately won the battle under General William Henry Harrison, yet they incurred heavy loss of life and property. This made the President Madison declare on 5 November 1811 to the Congress that an army was required for the national defense of the American rights. The Congress approved President Madison’s proposal. The message sent by President Madison to the Congress presented very strong reasons for the need to commence a war with the Great Britain for the attainment of Neutral Rights. In his proposal, President Madison said that the Great Britain had been preying upon the commerce of the US by a lot of actions that included but were not limited to seizure of her sailors and providing the restless Indians over the frontier with support. Alongside, the US was interested in annexing Canada as well as in conquering Florida. On 19 June 1812, a war was officially declared with England by the President Madison. In his declaration, President Madison cited four main reasons for commencing war with England. The four reasons are as follows: 1. The British impressed the American sailors 2. The British violated America’s neutral rights as well as her territorial waters 3. The British blocked the American ports 4. The British had refused to annul the orders that had blocked the trade between foreign countries and the US. In the year 1812, the American army was not quite in the position of conquering Canada. The regular troops were scanty, and a vast majority of the militia were based on the male citizens of the fighting age that were commanded by officers who themselves were not much experienced. Different states of America had lack of consent upon whether the militiamen would fight within or outside their states since the militiamen were not directly commanded by the president unlike the regulars. There were also certain states that were not willing to participate in the war because they were not threatened. The military force of Canada was even lesser than that of the US. In May 1812, the Governor of Upper Canada, Sir George Prevost, estimated that no more than 4000 pit of the 11000 militia of the Upper Canada were reliable as loyal. On the other hand, the Great Britain could not extend any help since her own resources were being rapidly consumed by the war that had been opened with Napoleon. In spite of this, the Congress passed a bill on 18 June 1812, 19 to 13 in the Senate and 79 to 49 in the House of Representatives, thus approving the declaration of war that had been made by the President Madison. On the other end, the Great Britain tried to postpone her own declaration until 9 January 1813 in this hope that this would avert the war but the military action had been started much earlier. There were certain advantages as well as disadvantages in the approaching war for the US. The main advantages for the US are these; the heavy involvement of England in the Napoleonic wars posed hurdles in her way to use her full military strength against the US. The expenses of war were less and it became more convenient for the US to fight since the war was close to home. Canada was the main target of the US thrust and the US was much larger in terms of population. The American navy was quite well-trained and efficient. The disadvantages for the US in pursuing the war are these; the American army was small and was not well-run because of an abundance of inexperienced militia that was also not well-equipped. The war was unpopular the Americans in general and the New Englanders in particular. There was no national bank in the US and a lot of money had to be borrowed to finance the military action. Since neither of the two countries was very well-equipped or well-prepared for the war, both the US and the Great Britain demanded concessions through negotiations as the war continued. On 24 December 1814, the British negotiators accepted the Treaty of Ghent since they were facing a depletion of the British treasury because of the costs incurred in the Napoleonic Wars and also, the Duke of Wellington had urged the British negotiators to reach a settlement. “It provided for the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of conquests and a commission to settle boundary disputes. Many people were unhappy about the Treaty of Ghent. They felt the document was weak and would not be honored” (“The War of”). The most significant result of the War of 1812 was improvement of the nationalism among the Americans. Although the Americans did not achieve much materialistically, yet the war provided them with a very valuable element i.e. the national character. As a result of the War of 1812, the funding for the peacetime military also increased, along with improvement in the coastal defenses, increase in the safety of the western frontier, and an ultimate confirmation of the outcome of the Revolution. When the war ended, the strength of the Indian nations that dwelled in the Old Southwest as well as the Old Northwest was considerably reduced, which paved way for the settlement of the white Americans across a broad front. “The war also produced a new national symbol, The Star-Spangled Banner, which Congress made our national anthem in 1931. Most importantly, America’s independence and status in the world were reaffirmed, never again to be seriously challenged” (“The American Revolution”). The European powers would not experience such influence among the American tribes in the future. III Conclusion Concluding, this paper discussed the reasons for the US participation in the War of 1812. The topic posed numerous questions that were answered in the paper. The questions included; why did the US enter into a war with the Great Britain despite conducting trade with it? What were the economic interests of the US to enter the war? And how popular was the war among the Americans? What the paper found was that there were numerous factors that caused the US to participate in the War of 1812. Although there were some particular events that were the main cause of the commencement of the War of 1812, a major factor that became the reason of the US involvement in the war was the tension that existed between the Great Britain and the US, and the colonies that had established since the American Revolution but had not dispersed with the conclusion of the American Revolution. First, the British support for the Amerindians posed huge threats to the Americans and their interests who wanted to use the land of the Amerindians and change them into farmers. The British had imposed restrictions on the export of the American goods to France that caused a huge economic threat to the US. The practice of the Great Britain to hinder the American vessels from conducting trade with France and force the American sailors to serve in the British ships was quite unpopular among the Americans. Although the US could not achieve any of the aims that she had for participating in the War of 1812, yet the war spoke volumes about the American nationhood and as a result of this, the US got more respect for the republic amongst the European powers. A question, however, that surfaced in the process of writing this paper was why the US was not able to annex Canada. This question needs to be researched in detail. Works Cited: “The American Revolution.” 24 Dec. 2003. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . “The War of 1812: Second War for Independence.” 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Turner, Wesley B. The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides Won. 2nd ed. Canada: Dundurn Press, 2000. 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