1812 marks the year President Madison, member of the Democratic-Republican party, asked Congress to declare war on the greatest naval power in the world; Great Britain. The tensions between these two nations came as a result of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The factors of Great Britain forcing impressment and infringing maritime rights, appealing to American nationalism, and President Madison’s political motivations all added up to equal the War of 1812. Since America remained neutral, Britain did everything in their power to assure the United States suffered many costly defeats at the hands of Canadian, Native American, and British troops, and also made trading with the French nearly inaccessible. The ocean is a highway …show more content…
Document 4, which is his declaration of war to Congress, is dated June first, 1812. When analyzing this date, it is obvious that it is approximately five months before the next election day and this was no coincidence. Madison realized that in order to get nominated again, he would have to get the Democratic-Republican party to stand with him rather than against him. To accomplish this, though he was not keen on the idea of war, he did what his people wanted and officially pronounced the call for war. This method undeniably worked. Ninety-eight out of the 120 Democratic Republicans from members of the House of Representatives and Senate voted approvingly toward this decision(Document 6). Document 5 uses a map that depicts the regions that wanted to go to war with Great Britain based off the House of Representative votes. It is also no coincidence that the same states in Document 5 were the same states that voted for James Madison in the 1812 re-election. Without President Madison’s political motivations, the War of 1812 would not have occurred during his presidency. Due to impressment and the seizure of American merchant ships, appeals to nationalism, and Madison’s political motivations, the War of 1812 could cease to exist. In the end, the war’s outcome encouraged the growing spirit of America that would shape the better parts of the 19th