THE WAR OF 1812

Mr. Madison’s war, as the critics of it subsequently referred to, a conflict occurred from
grievances and desire. Stop the trade restrictions; halt the force recruitment of British born
American seaman, and cease the British military support given to the American Indians.
However, some historians state that “land hunger was the main motivation of the war; the
United States had the desire to annex all part of Canada. According to the minority of
historians, that annexation would achieve the long-standing goal of dividing the British out of
North America, permanently solve the Indian problem and gain a significant amount of valuable
land.
The 32 month (1812-1815) military conflict between the United States of America and
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and its North American colonies and its Indian
allies, formally began on June 18, 1812 when the United States President James Madison signed
the measure of recounting American grievances against Great Britain into law. It was the first
time that the United States had declared war on another nation. It was opposed by the 39
Federalist in congress who eventually failed due to the weakened power of the said political
party prior the declaration. The congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to
officially declare war in American history.
In the same year, the American regular army of 12,000 men expanded to an astonishing
35,000 men, but they were at risks for several reasons, aside from the fact that the act of
recruiting was voluntary and unpopular in nature, the army was offered poor pay, with
untrained and inexperience officers. Nevertheless, no one had right on their side; the outcome
was a draw. Historians generally agree that the real losers of the War of 1812 were the Indians
(called "First Nations" in Canada). Neither side lost territory in the war, nor did the treaty that
ended it address the original points of contention—and yet it changed much between the
United States of America and Britain.

AMIEL C. SERVANO Dr. CESAR SAN JOSE

M.A. Ed. History Professor