What Caused The War Of 1812

The war of 1812 was fought against two main forces: the British and the Indians (who actually sided with the British). By 1800, American settlers had now far outnumbered the remaining Indians. The federal policy of civilization was heavily encouraged and endorsed within the Indian communities. This caused controversy because the nativists wanted to shy away from European influence and resisted to follow white encroachment on their Indian lands. In 1803, Jefferson made an agreement with the French to make the Louisiana purchase. But within that land was Indian Territory that wasn’t Jefferson’s to purchase. Movement for the revitalization of the Indian life and culture arose from the Creeks, Cherokees, Shawnees, Iroquois, and other tribes. War against the whites were heavily encouraged by two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (a prophet who called for complete separation from the whites).
To Jefferson, economic health of the United States required freedom of trade and no other foreign government had the right to interfere with that. In 1809 Jefferson stopped all trade of goods with Britain and France and stated that if either side rescinded its edicts against American shipping, commerce with that country would resume. In 1810 Madison made trading with them open again but warned that if they interfered with American rights he would reimpose the embargo on them. Since Britain controlled the seas, Napolean announced that he repealed his decrees against neutral shipping but the British continues to attack. In 1812 Madison reimposed the embargo on trade with