What Factors Lead To The War Of 1812

Almost three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary Wars and marked Great Britain’s recognition of the United States’ sovereignty, the animosity and strained relations between the two nations were once again brought to the surface. Trade became the lifeline of the United States’ economy, and this was established through favorable trading partnerships with former enemies, which included the French and the English. While the United States thrived, British resentment of it economic growth loomed on the horizon. This resentment manifested itself in the Napoleonic War, when both the French and British tried to undermine each other, by blocking the United States from trading with the other. This action interfered with and injured the United States’ trading and commerce.
By 1805, relations between the United States and Britain gradually deteriorated with the re-enforcement of Rule of 1756 (trade not permitted in peacetime would not be allowed in wartime). The situation escalated with the British win at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805 and their blockade of French ports, which forced the French to issue the Berlin Decree blocking trade with the British, and instituted the Continental System which breached U.S. neutral rights by declaring ships that visited British ports as enemy vessels. The British response was to issue the Orders in Council in November 11, 1807, requiring neutral ship to acquire licenses at English ports in order to commence trading with France or it colonies. American ships were caught between a rock and a hard place; if the U.S complied with either the British or the French, it was subject to the penalties levied by the