The War of 1812
Above: "A Russian attempt to mediate between Lady Liberty
(right) and John Bull (left) is lampooned in this American cartoon,
'Bruin become Mediator,' by Scottish-born artist William Charles of
Philadelphia."
Introduction: The War of 1812 (1812–1815)
By Christopher T. George
The
War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain is a
neglected war, much in the shadow of the American Revolution
(1776–1783), in which the former 13 British colonies broke away from
the mother country, and the American Civil War (1861–1865). Yet in
many ways the conflict was a pivotal defining point in the history
of the United States, and for that reason it needs to be studied and
remembered.
A Great Patriotic War. . . in Canada and the United States
In
Canada, the war is remembered as a great patriotic war that helped
to define Canada. The Americans did after all try to invade Canada
several times during the war as indeed they did during the American
Revolution. The memory of the "saving" of Canada from the American
brethren is something that keeps the War of 1812 in the forefront of
the Canadian consciousness, and Americans are often startled to
realize how much the engagements on the Niagara frontier are
remembered up in Canada.
It
would be beneficial for the people of the United States to think of
the War of 1812 in the same terms, which they should when they think
of the patriotic symbols that came out of the war: the Star-Spangled
Banner, Uncle Sam, the U.S.S. Constitution or “Old
Ironsides,” the "Squirrel Hunters of Kentucky" and their
semi-mythical role in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815,
important commanders such as Andrew Jackson, Winfield Scott, and
William Henry Harrison on land, and Commodores Decatur and Porter at
sea, and slogans such as “Don’t Give Up the Ship” and “Free Trade
and Sailor’s Rights.”
The Canadians similarly have their heroes, such as General Isaac
Brock, remembered for the capture of Detroit, who was killed
fighting the American "invaders" at the Battle of Queenston Heights
(October 1812). Canadians also have their heroine, Laura Secord,
much as the Americans have Dolley Madison, Mary Pickersgill and
Kitty Knight.
Minorities
in the War of 1812
Moreover, minorities played a major role in the war, such as the
Indians fighting against the Americans under Tecumseh at the Battles
of the River Raisin and the Thames (1813) and the Creeks fighting
for and against Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend
(1814), the colored men who fought for Jackson at New Orleans,
loyalist blacks with the British in Canada, and the "Colonial
Marines," former slaves who were trained by and fought for the
British in the Chesapeake and off the coast of the Carolinas and
Georgia in 1814–1815. Around one in five sailors on board American
privateers and U.S. Navy vessels were black men, as proven by
British prisoner of war records from Dartmoor and other prisons. The
black sailors who fought with Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry at the
Battle of Lake Erie (1813) earned praise from their commander. A
little known aspect of the war is that the British promised freedom
to American slaves. As many as 3,000 to 5,000 former slaves were
transported out by the British and taken to British territory,
mainly Nova Scotia, where their descendents live today.
Maritime Origins of the War of 1812
In
truth, the War of 1812 was actually an outgrowth of the Napoleonic
Wars that were raging across the Atlantic. The maritime
difficulties that are usually cited as a major reason if not the
main reason for the war was a result of the "Continental System"
instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte and the rivalry between France and
Great Britain that resulted in both sides seizing American ships on
the high seas. The United States viewed itself as a neutral nation
and teetered between supporting either the French or the British in
the worldwide struggle. In the end, it was the stopping of American
merchant ships that were trying to trade with Continental Europe and
the impressment of American sailors to serve in the Royal Navy,
characterized in the slogan "Free Trade and Sailors Rights" that was
the deciding factor in President James Madison declaring war on
Great Britain on June 18, 1812. The maritime reasons however were
not the only factor in the war however… the British were also
supporting the Indians in the Old Northwest (i.e., present-day Ohio,
Illinois, Indian, and Michigan) and it could be said that this
policy was hindering "Manifest Destiny" for the Americans to migrate
westward. The War Hawks of the western territories cared more for
this than for sailors' rights.
