History 108 †Early American History Essay

The quarrel between the British and the Americans lasted for less than three years. It began in 1812 and ended in 1825. When the war was through the side of the British lost approximately 1, 600 troops and the United States lost about 2, 260 of its troops. Ex US-president Madison declared war in order to protect US ships from being searched by both the British and the French. Some people believed the war to be a means of gaining US independence and protecting its honor from the disrespectful British. However, the war ended in a draw since both sides are not properly equipped for war. At the time of the Napoleonic war both French and British alike prohibited the existence of neutral trade. Even though the war between France and Britain had affected the American trade, the Americans still tried to remain neutral. However, the British did things which provoked the Americans especially when the British seized about 8, 000 US sailors. The British made it their business to impress American ships and employing people from the ship under the British navy. They tried to justify their actions by claiming that they are only getting the men under the rule of the monarchy. However, that particular statement of the British had been a lie for they have employed more than 6,000 of the American citizens under their services 1. The attack of the British vessel, Leopard on the US naval frigate Chesapeake resulted in a calamity and is one of the causes of the war. The Leopard demanded to search Chesapeake for British deserters, to which its captain, James Barron firmly denied the particular demand. This resulted in to an attack which killed lots of Americans. In response to the event, Jefferson banned the British from American waters and he also ordered that the British stop their search on American ships. Even though Great Britain apologized for their actions they still refused to give way to the demands of the United States 2. On June 18, 1812, war had been declared by the Americans to the British. The Americans had many reasons for declaring a war such as the seizing of American sailors by British vessels, the French and British restriction on neutral trade which greatly affected the US economy, and the military support of Great Britain on Native Americans in protecting their lands. Great Britain attempted to prevent the war by withdrawing their trade restrictions; however there is no turning back for the Americans especially since they already viewed that particular war as a war for their independence. However, there are other primary reason why the war still continued and it is the wish of the Western and Southern Americans to drive the British and the Spanish away from North America. However, as mentioned earlier, neither side is prepared for a war and it is the primary reason why the war ended in a draw. The British had most of its army on Peninsular War and they are very preoccupied with the Napoleonic war as well as their war against France. The United States on the other hand, are hard put by the fact that their military leaderships were weak. This particular weakness could be seen on the numerous attempts of the United States to infiltrate Canada. None of those attempts succeeded in spite of the fact that they had been fighting only a small British force. Another major problem which plagued Americans during their time is the minority of their financial and logistical resources. These had only been some of the reasons why neither the British nor the Americans won the war of 1812 To conclude, the war began because of the numerous abuses the Americans have had to suffer under the British navy as well as for the interest of the Americans to drive the British and the Spaniards away from Florida and North America. However, since neither force is ready for the said war, and since both sides are preoccupied by other major concerns the war ended in a stalemate. Reference: Henretta, James A. , David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil. America – a Concise History. Vol. 1 St. Martin’s Press, 2005. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. â€Å"War of 1812. † (2007), http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761571913_1/War_of_1812. html.