Essay On Why The Us Won The War Of 1812

590 Words3 Pages

One could argue that America won the War of 1812, but it cannot be clearly proven. America and Britain both put up a good fight in the war before it concluded. James Madison, the president at the time, asked Congress to declare war on Britain. Madison’s reasons for declaring war were: expansion of the country, British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, and the impressment of American sailors and seamen (War). Britain, with the most powerful navy, had won many key battles against U.S. forces; however, the American’s never gave up and fought hard throughout the entire war. Britain had many factors to support it, such as support from the north, its powerful navy, and its many soldiers. However, it also had weaknesses such as its priority in fighting France. The war was eventually settled …show more content…

Some of these strengths include the powerful navy, support from the natives and Canadians, and overall better odds for winning the war. Britain had the most powerful navy at the time with near 140,000 sailors, as compared to the U.S. with only about 5,000 (PBS). With this navy, Britain had set up a massive blockade running along much of the eastern coast, blocking trade, capturing American ships, and impressing their sailors (Arthur). The natives and Canadians helped the British fight wars in and around the current Great Lakes. First, they were supplied with weapons, and then would fight American soldiers who tried to invade Canada. Nearly all factors to win the war favored Britain, except for two. First, the American’s had just beaten the British in the American Revolutionary War and gained independence from them, so, they believed they could take on the English again. Second, in both wars, Britain had been fighting France, who was trying to take over Europe. Therefore, the majority of British naval forces were put towards the French, as they viewed the wars with us as