On 18 June 1812, president James Madison signed a declaration of war for what is now known as the War of 1812. There were many actions that led to the cause of this war, mainly including the maritime, economic, and territorial issues. Once the war had begun, there were many actions taken and lives lost during the invasions and battles until the war finally came to an end merely three year later. This war has been viewed as a lesson more than anything and even though it was not a very long war, it has impacted the countries that were involved, including Canada, and has helped bring us to where we are today. There were many causes known to start the War of 1812, the main one was thought to be the maritime issues. Due to the fact that British …show more content…
In 1807, Thomas Jefferson enforced the Embargo Act. This act made all exports from the U.S. illegal, therefore intending to force Britain and France to respect Americas rights during the Napoleonic Wars. The Embargo Act was intended to destroy the British and French economy, which it did not. In fact the Embargo actually helped British policy and it stopped any help the French may have received from American shipping. Brazil and the Spanish colonies had also just opened to British trade around the same time that the Embargo began, so their economy was unaffected. It also complimented Napoleon’s Continental system so the French were not affected either. On the other hand, the act severely affected New England and the south very hard which resulted in a depression that damaged the United States’ economy. Since the economy found itself to weaken, before long they found themselves to have an even weaker military than they had beforehand. The final important cause that called for war was America’s call for expansion both north and south. The Americans knew that Canada was Britain’s last foothold on the continent and they did not like the obvious support that the British in Canada was giving Indians of the Northwest, which proved to be a primary cause in the call to invade the country. Another factor that requested the conquest of Canada was the farmers wish to obtain the Canadian fields because …show more content…
The Americans devised a plan to take over Upper Canada first, considering the maritime provinces were protected by the British navy and lower Canada was too remote and was also protected by the fortress of Quebec. The Americans expected it to be incredibly simple to invade, in fact Thomas Jefferson claimed that it would be ‘a mere matter of marching’ for the capture of Canada. The British were badly outnumbered, but they were more prepared than the Americans had expected. The British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock had been pushing extreme defence measures before the war had officially been declared in order to prepare for the conflict. His most recognized effort was the idea of developing the policy towards making allies of the First Nations. Brock was disappointed that he only had about 1600 troops to fight but the Americans ended up losing so may of their own men that eventually the militia refused to cross into Canada. Once Brock was killed, a new American army came from Kentucky to try to retake Detroit and the were mauled by the British, Canadian, and First Nation force. Further attempts to invade Canada at this timer were abandoned and the only Americans remaining in Canada were prisoners of war. Eventually America struck again and there were more battles, one of which being the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. “The battle of Lundy’s Lane was among the bloodiest of the war. Both sides