The War of 1812 - an American Perspective
Americans are vaguely aware of this conflict, most likely to remember only a few dramatic moments, such as the writing of "
The Star-Spangled Banner," the
burning of Washington and the
Battle of New Orleans. Also a war fought to protect maritime rights by invading Canada strikes many people as curious.
Far from bringing the enemy to terms, the U.S. was lucky to escape without making extensive concessions itself.
The Treaty of Ghent (which ended the conflict) said nothing about the maritime issues that had caused the war. It merely provided a return to the status quo ante bellum - the state that had existed before the war.
Fighting was marred by substantial mismanagement.
Federalists vigorously opposed the conflict, and so too did some
Republicans. Even those who supported the war feuded among themselves and never displayed the sort of patriotic enthusiasm that has been so evident in other
American wars.
The U.S. did secure victories at the Thames in the Northwest, at Chippewa and Fort Erie on the Niagara front, and a successful defense of Baltimore in the Chesapeake. New Orleans was a crushing defeat of the British. There were naval victories on the northern lakes and the high seas, and some heroes emerged.
Enhanced by military or government service, the war helped four men capture the
presidency -
Andrew Jackson,
John Quincy Adams,
James Monroe, and
William Henry Harrison - and three men the vice-presidency -
Daniel D. Tompkins,
John C. Calhoun, and
Richard M. Johnson.
It was the second and last time that America was the underdog in a war and the second and last time that the nation tried to conquer Canada. It was also the last time that Indians played a major role in determining the future of the continent.
Although most Americans pretended they had won the war - even calling it a "
Second War of Independence"-they could point to few concrete gains - certainly none in the peace treaty - to sustain this claim which may best explain why the war is so little remembered.
(Source: PBS News)
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