Cuases of the War of 1812
Causes of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a very short war with no clear winner in the end. It ended through at treaty called the Treaty of Ghent. But what was the cause of the war? Well, there actually was more than just one cause. There were actually more than three. But three major causes were America’s determination to stay neutral, Britain’s desire for their trading partners to not trade with their enemies, and the slow mail in those days. One cause was America’s determination to stay neutral. Britain decided, “Hey, why not just force America to pick a side?” So the British set up all these laws to forbid any country remaining neutral from trading at wartime any trade that wasn’t allowed during times of peace. Then America, being young and dumb, reacted by going from the French or the Spanish to an American port and then going to the English port. Of course, the Essex case of 1805 determined that stopping by an American port did not elude the restriction set in the rule of 1756. This ruling increased the amount of ships seized by the British. Then of course, there’s the fact that in those days Britain was enforcing the policy of seizing and searching all neutral vessels for British deserters. This caused an incident in 1807 where the British ship HMS Leopard shot at and boarded the American ship Chesapeake, taking with them four seamen. While this event was minor, it really ticked off the Americans. The contribution that was solely British was the blockade Britain placed in America and Europe. Britain didn’t want America outfitting their enemies. The concept behind the deed was reasonable, although the deed itself was not. When the Britain blockaded US ports, they did not take into account the fact that France may want a share in the rule-making and put up a fight, which of course, France did. France reciprocated by blockading the British Isles. This put America in an awkward position, because French had helped America in their revolution,
The War of 1812 was a very short war with no clear winner in the end. It ended through at treaty called the Treaty of Ghent. But what was the cause of the war? Well, there actually was more than just one cause. There were actually more than three. But three major causes were America’s determination to stay neutral, Britain’s desire for their trading partners to not trade with their enemies, and the slow mail in those days. One cause was America’s determination to stay neutral. Britain decided, “Hey, why not just force America to pick a side?” So the British set up all these laws to forbid any country remaining neutral from trading at wartime any trade that wasn’t allowed during times of peace. Then America, being young and dumb, reacted by going from the French or the Spanish to an American port and then going to the English port. Of course, the Essex case of 1805 determined that stopping by an American port did not elude the restriction set in the rule of 1756. This ruling increased the amount of ships seized by the British. Then of course, there’s the fact that in those days Britain was enforcing the policy of seizing and searching all neutral vessels for British deserters. This caused an incident in 1807 where the British ship HMS Leopard shot at and boarded the American ship Chesapeake, taking with them four seamen. While this event was minor, it really ticked off the Americans. The contribution that was solely British was the blockade Britain placed in America and Europe. Britain didn’t want America outfitting their enemies. The concept behind the deed was reasonable, although the deed itself was not. When the Britain blockaded US ports, they did not take into account the fact that France may want a share in the rule-making and put up a fight, which of course, France did. France reciprocated by blockading the British Isles. This put America in an awkward position, because French had helped America in their revolution,