War of 1812 facts

Battle erie
Monument to the War of 1812
A statue of a war of 1812 soldier


One reason given for Americans declaring war against Great Britain was because the British were harassing American ships. The British were also seizing American sailors at sea and forcing them to serve in the British Navy. But the numbers of American seamen pressed into British Service may have been seriously exaggerated. The British were also sponsoring Native American territories in the west to stop the United States from expanding westward. This was the reason that about 10,000 Native Americans fought on the side of the British. But the British also had designs on the North American frontier so their promises may or may not have been kept.

The War

Fighting began when the United States started to attack the Canadian provinces beginning in 1812. But the British and Canadians successfully defended the borders. In 1813, British and American ships fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. Americans under Oliver Hazard Perry won, giving America control of Lake Erie. American forces raided and burned Toronto, then called Yorktown.

In 1814, Napoleon abdicated the French throne. This freed up experienced British troops to be sent to North America. They burned Washington D.C. and also attacked Baltimore. During this battle an American lawyer, Francis Scott Key, wrote a poem. The poem was later used to give the words to a new national anthem for the United States: "The Star Spangled Banner." The final battle of the war took place in January of 1815. The British attacked New Orleans and were successfully repulsed by Americans under General Andrew Jackson. Unknown by both sides at the time, the Battle of New Orleans took place after the peace treaty had been signed.

US Capitol 1814c
The first version of the US capitol



Who won the war?

From the British perspective, the War of 1812 was a minor sideshow. The Americans called it their victorious "Second War for Independence". The British remember it as the Americans trying to take advantage of their being involved in a war against the French Empire.

In Canada, the War of 1812 was an unwanted war. It concerned the distant capitols of Washington DC and London, not them. In Lower Canada, now Quebec it was considered an Anglo-Saxon war. In Quebec there was little love for the British, but the British had guaranteed their right to speak French. If the Americans took over it was unknown how it would affect them. They chose the lesser of two evils and supported the British. Upper Canada (later part of the Province of Ontario) had been settled by American Loyalists who came here after the Revolutionary war. They had little love of their former countrymen in the US but had become outnumbered by Americans who came North to settle. When the Americans attempted to invade Canada, the Canadian militias found no problem with defending their homeland.

In US history, the War of 1812 is the most obscure conflict. The average American remembers very little about the war. Some may remember the The Star Spangled Banner, the Burning of Washington or the Battle of New Orleans. But otherwise it is a little understood conflict. The issues are complex. Most scholars would agree it was fought over maritime issues. Since the British Navy was the most powerful in the world at the time, it may have made sense to attack them on land by invading Canada. Former president Thomas Jefferson predicted the "acquisition of Canada, will be a mere matter of marching."

The British feel they won the war no matter what Americans think. The Canadians kept Canada so they won. The Americans, despite failing to take Canada, did keep what they had to do so they feel they won. Of all three, the British are perhaps the happiest because they have completely forgotten about it.


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