Tyler Scott

HIST 1700-039
Leading Up to the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was not a war of great military achievement, but as to why
the United States decided to participate in the conflict is quite the debated topic.
After the American Revolution, which further separated the United States from
British control, many tensions still remained which eventually led to the War of 1812
also known as the Second War of Independence. These tensions reflected many of
the issues that existed before the American Revolution as well as more conflicts
emerging with the rising independent nation. There are many interpretations that
can be made about why America decided to declare the War of 1812. These reasons
can be split into two main categories, the first having to do with conflicts in the New
World regarding Manifest Destiny, the second dealing with the lack of Maritime
Rights caused by the Napoleonic War.
In the New World, there were many contributing factors as to why America
decided to declare war with the British. The first major reason for this war was to
claim Canada (and other Spanish American territories) to fill the desire for American
Expansion of the American citizens (this is know as Manifest Destiny). The West and
South were much more dependent on agriculture for their economy compared to
the North and East who depended more upon trade and other sources of economy.
But, because these Americans had lesser agricultural skills, unless the farmer was
growing crops on virgin land, it was near impossible for the crops to succeed (this
would be fixed later with more advanced farming techniques such as crop rotation).
Canada seemed to contain the only useful, unsettled virgin land "because Canada
stood for great reserves of agricultural land" (Goodman, pg. 175). Land to the West

was already colonized by the Indians, so their land would be less fertile for crops
than Canada, and Canadian land is easier to access in the event of annexing
Canada into the Union (Goodman). American colonists also had the desire to annex
Spanish Florida (Spain was an ally to the British). This would result in unrestricted
foreign trade in the Louisiana territories and control of the Mississippi river. It was
even believed that whoever controlled Cuba could "command the trade of the
Western States... Give us Cuba and the American union is placed beyond the reach
of change." (Haynes, pg. 50).
Access to virgin land was not the only reason for America to annex Canada;
other factors arose from British colonies in the New World. For America to be a
completely free nation, the British needed to be rid of their presence in the New
World. The British had control of Canada from the North and the British and Spanish
had control of Florida, Bermuda, Cuba, and the Bahamas in the South. With these
opposing forces in place, trade along the seas were made almost impossible and
expansion was blocked by the positioning of enemy colonies. The first thought, even
before the American Revolution, was to annex Canada into the American union. If
Canada was brought into the union, then the whole continent could eventually be
controlled by the United States. Eventual capturing of Canada would only further
American control of the New World and separate America from Europe (Horsman).
Attempts to bring Canada into the union were made in 1774 where congress invited
Canadians to join America in resisting British control, a quote from this
communication: Your province... is the only link wanting to compleat the bright and
strong chain of union (Horsman, pg. 5). This attempt, however, had failed Canada
was not interested in joining the union. America attempted to invade Canada
because they did not come into the union peacefully by annexation. This attack was
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made just before America entered the American Revolution. This attack had failed,
but it shows the desperacy of America to bring Canada into the union.
After the American Revolution in the late 18th century, the British still
remained in the New World. While the British remained in this territory, they halted
Manifest Destiny in a couple ways. The first is that their colonies in the New World
stopped expansion to the North for the simple fact that they are currently colonized
in those areas. The second is, because they were there, they had influence on the
Indians in the Louisiana territory that made expansion West near impossible. This
was directly caused by British trade with the Indians, giving them access to guns
and equipment, and further increasing their resistance. The British also encouraged
the Indians to fight the advance in the unions colony Westward, "it was the threat
of a general Indian uprising coupled with British connivance from Canada that
impelled the west into the war" (Goodman, pg. 175). Much more discussion among
the union revealed that a war with Canada would be made not to just to gain
Canada as a part of the union, but also to rid of the British in Canada along with its
threat on the expansion of the union (Horsman).
Another issue arose with the Napoleonic Wars taking place between the
British and France that affected trade reliant economies in the North and East
American colonies. With this war, America wanted to stay neutral, but still continue
its trade with both the British and the French. However, both countries began to
seize and capture American trade ships. Part of this is because each nation would
attempt to stop and seize trade vessels to each other nation (this included
American ships docking at British and France ports). This can be seen as an insult
by both countries towards America, which is surprising, especially when the
previous ally during the American Revolution, France, joined in this action. Even with
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this, Jefferson still favored France over the British. When comparing the two
together, the British were much more powerful than France this lesser French
power can be seen by the Louisiana purchase where the French ceded land in the
New World. The British also had a stronger ability to threaten and attack the United
States (the British naval fleet was much stronger than the French naval fleet). In the
event of a French victory in the Napoleonic Wars, the British would no longer have
the power to further harass America in the New World, thus securing their
independence (Kaplan).
The British created even more problems when they began seizing American
trade ships at British ports. Because of the Napoleonic Wars (and the eventual start
of the War of 1812), the need for able sailors in the British navy grew dramatically.
They needed troops to man the ships as well as counteract the high desertion rates
many of their troops were captured unwillingly and they would try to escape. The
British navy has the right under British law to take men in Great Britain, arrest
them, and place them in the Royal Navy (these men who were captured were called
Roderick Random). Of course, some people were protected from this arrest:
anyone who was an indentured servant (already in debt to/owned by a master), a
person with less than two years of experience at sea, fishermen, riggers,
shipwrights, and sailmakers could not be arrested. These people who were unable to
be pressed into the navy were thought to be essential to the economy. For a person
to resist arrest, they would have to have some form of identification or document
that proves they cant be arrested (this is kind of like the idea of free slaves in
America). They had to keep some form of identification that they are a protected
man. If they had no proof, they would be put into service for the navy
(Impressment of American Sailors).
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Because men who had experience on the sea were requested (this is for the
navy after all), these naval press gangs, the ones who would capture these people
and put them into the navy, would patrol harbors and areas around the coast on
land and at sea searching for experienced seamen. Some of the people they would
find are on American trade ships that docked for trading. In theory, these recruiting
gangs were not allowed to capture any person who is not a citizen of Great Britain.
In practice, this rule was often ignored by these Naval press gangs and the
Americans would be captured. It also became difficult to distinguish who was
American and who was Britain for many of the American traders were Briton
ethnicity. Some Americans went as far as to raise American flags on their ships or
even get American themed tattoos to distinguish their identity from the British.
Because of this distinguishing difficulty, the question of who was Briton and who
was American resulted in further issues not only with the Americans, but Britons as
well (Impressment of American Sailors).
To avoid being pressed into the British navy, many Britons would pretend to
be American citizens, or even begin work on American ships to avoid this forceful
service. However, this would not prove very effective when the press gangs started
to press anyone without protection identification, Briton or not. It makes sense that
the British would start to ignore citizenship when their own men are deserting the
army and changing nationality just to avoid being pulled into the navy
(Impressment of American Sailors).
The crowning insult to America was how the British treated the impressment
issue. An attempt to make a treaty with Britain in 1806 was made to hopefully end
this kidnapping of American sailor. However, Britain didnt even act with the
slightest sense of concern, they didnt show any signs of wanting to improve their
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relations with America. Even with the British seeming to not want to help fix these
issues, Jefferson still continued his negotiations. The British showed their true colors
on this issue through the Chesapeake Affair of 1807 where a British ship fired upon
the American ship Chesapeake to recover illegally impressed American sailors
who deserted the British navy. Jefferson was astonished by Britishs aggressive acts
on this issue. Even in the state of anger that he was in, held together and avoided
any emotional impulse decisions. Non-Importation Acts, as well as the Embargo Act,
were used to ordered all ships of Europe out of American waters (this would slowly
stop trade with Great Britain). This action was made to further avoid war, Jefferson
would rather have peaceful means of redressing injustice (Kaplan, pg. 199) than
to start a war. Jefferson found that this would give time to the offender, Great
Britain, to reconsider their actions and reconcile with America (Kaplan).
Even with the War of 1812 imminent, Jefferson did try to avoid war with the
British because he had other tools that he could use to strike the British without
declaring war. These actions of Jefferson targeted the issue of impressment and the
Chesapeake Affair. This act also shined upon Jeffersons dream of separating the
United States completely from the Old World. By cutting off all trade with the British,
Jefferson believed Great Britain would no longer have access to the food and raw
material they needed for their industry, thus giving America some kind of foothold
over the British in political affairs. This embargo was mostly targeted towards
British, but also included France. Jefferson made sure it was clear that America was
not treating the British and the French equally, and that the aims in this embargo
would hurt the British more than the French. Jefferson also mentioned, to further
please the French, that this was his way of securing Maritime Liberty and show his
joining of the Continental System (thus joining the Napoleonic War in a way as
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Frances ally an action he avoided, but ended up doing so). Jefferson did not want
to take part in the war in any way he could, but he hoped by joining the French
against the British, the French would keep a promise that was made to Armstrong
by the minister of France that America would be free to Spanish America in present
day Florida (Kaplan).
Even with all these claims and hopes of kept promises, things began to
backfire for Jefferson. The British fought back in these political engagements by
passing the Bayonne Decree in 1808 which permitted the confiscation of any
American ships found in European harbors Bonaparte declared that this helped
enforce the American embargo. And even with America now an ally in the
Continental System, the price of Florida kept rising, not a single piece of land was
given to America (Kaplan).
At the end of Jeffersons term, he repealed the Embargo Act and NonIntercourse Act. However, the British, who thought that this embargo damaged
America more that it did to themselves, kept its Maritime policies in place
(continued and even increased its impressment of American trade ships). The
Embargo/Non-Intercourse Acts were put into place to hopefully shine some light
upon the British to repair their relations. However, with the rising dissatisfaction of
American citizens, lowered American economy, and the seemingly untouched
British economies, these acts were discontinued. The British, when stopping trade
with America, were able to continue on for the items they had received from
America were not essential for survival, they were also able to open new trade
routes with the Spanish. The French seemed to have enjoyed the embargo for it
agreed with Napoleons Continental System (Embargo of 1807).

Overall, the issues with both Manifest Destiny and Maritime Rights take place
in different sections of the United States depending on the economic dependence of
the citizens. People to the West and South wanted Canadian land, access to Spanish
controlled territories to the South, and the removal of the British colonies to reduce
indian resistance for expansion westward (Goodman). People along the coasts were
much more interested in Maritime Rights for their trade economies. However, all of
America was affected by Britishs disrespectful acts towards America as a nation, it
seemed a Second War of Independence was inevitable to fully engrave the United
States on the list of independent nations.
It is more commonly known by historians that the fight for Maritime Rights
was the sole factor in why the United States decided to declare the War of 1812.
However, the declaration of war was put forth by the House of Representatives on
June 4, 1812 with New England, New York, and New Jersey casting seventeen votes
for the war and thirty five against the war, and in the West and South came sixty
two for the war and fourteen against the war. This shows that even with the impact
of Maritime Rights, coastal colonies did not have the popular opinion for war
whereas more agriculture based economies did (Goodman). Even if maritime rights
did not directly affect the West and South colonists with the embargo, the actions of
the British did. In the Chesapeake Affair, the British showed their attitude towards
America and their disrespect for them as a nation. To Americans, it seemed the only
way to restore their honor (and fully gain their independence) was to declare war
with the British.

Works Cited
Horsman, Reginald. On to Canada: Manifest Destiny and United States Strategy in
the War of 1812,
Michigan Historical Review, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Fall 1987): 1-24.
Kaplan, Lawrence. Jefferson, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Balance of Power,
The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2 (April 1957): 196-217
Goodman, Warren. The Origins of the War of 1812: A Survey of Changing
Interpretations,
The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 28, No. 2 (September 1941):
171-186
Haynes, Robert. The Southwest and the War of 1812, Louisiana History: The
Journal of the Louisiana
Historical Association, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1964): 41-51.
Impressment of American Sailors, The Mariners Museum, (2000). accessed April
1, 2015.
https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/08/08a.htm
Embargo of 1807, Thomas Jeffersons Monticello. accessed April 1, 2015.
http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/embargo-1807

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