Why Was The War Of 1812 A Turning Point

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The war of 1812 was a war between Britain and America and lasted for roughly 2 years. Although this war was not a major war when compared to other wars in American history, it did serve as a turning point in the emergence of the United States as a hemispheric global superpower. The war of 1812 was a war fought over problems that had arisen between the Native people and American citizens, specifically over territory. At the time, many Americans believed in Manifest Destiny, and that it was their god given right to move west, but the Indian settlements in these areas did not want to give up their homes. Americans also believed that the British were “stirring up” the Indians reasons to make them mad at the Americans, but truly the Americans made …show more content…

When Americans heard word that they were coming, everyone fled the white house except President Madison and his Wife Dolley. Hours before President Madison stood in battle and took command being the first and only president to do so in history. Although they escaped in time, they were only able to save one item from the original White House, a full-length portrait of former president George Washington. Since Washington was the president who the white house was built for, it was significant they saved his picture to honor his hard work to create America into a strong independent nation it was …show more content…

They began facing so issues within such as disagreements, near separation and another war. This war would last from 1865-1877 and is known as the Civil War. Even though this put a temporary hold on the growth the United States was making, what happened after created far greater success than they could have accomplished before. As the went into what is knowns as the “reconstruction” period, America came back strong and smarter than they were before. 10 In 1898, we finally see the United States begin to enforce the rules they before stated in the Monroe doctrine and began exhibiting their hemispheric power. As Cuba struggled to gain independence from Spain eventually America stepped in to help them gain their freedom. On April 24th Spain declared war on the United States and on April 25th America declared war on Spain.7 This war lasted for less than a year and was a big win for the United States. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10th, 1898. The agreements of this included all territory of Cuba became independent, Guam and Puerto Rico now would belong to the United States and Spain had to transfer sovereignty over the Philippines for a great deal of money to the United States. New gained territory was essential to the United States new dominance on the Western Hemisphere and would lead to future affairs with Europe.

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