War Of 1812 Dbq

"The war has renewed and reinstated the national feelings and character which the Revolution had given, and which were daily lessened. The people . . . are more American; they feel and act more as a nation.” -Dolly Madison, 1814. The War of 1812, also known as “The Forgotten War," was a war that was fought in 1812 between the British and the United States. This was a war that would truly test the strength of the newly expanded America. The United States of America went to war with Britain for many reasons, including the fact that they were impressing American sailors, supporting the Native Americans, and the people at the time believed that Britain caused the agricultural depression. One of the many forces that caused America to declare

Impressment is forcing sailors into the Royal Navy without consent. The British would board American ships looking for people they considered to be deserters. In some cases, they would impress American citizens. In one case, the British went too far and cause what is known today as the Chesapeake Affair. The Chesapeake Affair was an incident that occurred in 1807. Four sailors were pressed into the Royal Navy. The men jumped ship and swam to shore. The British learned of this and went to find the people they considered to be deserters. When the men were identified on The Chesapeake, a British commander ordered that if a ship encountered The Chesapeake, its orders were to arrest the men. When The Chesapeake was approached by the HMS Leopard, the captain of the leopard asked if the men were on board, but the captain refused to give

As America was expanding and more people were traveling out west, they discovered that another group also had claimed that land, the Native Americans. The Native Americans were not happy to discover that the “white man” was claiming their land. This tension caused many attacks on the western settlers, and left them calling for war. The last string that was left with the natives was snapped when a Shawnee chief named Tecumseh began attempting to unite the tribes to create a resistance force against the western settlers. The united tribes, led by Tecumseh, referred to themselves as the Red Stick Confederacy. Although these events alone are not the reason Americans blamed the British for this issue, the thing that irked Americans, and ultimately gave them a reason to blame the British, was the fact that the British were giving the Native Americans weapons and support. The fact that the British were helping the natives was enough for the western settlers to cry for war against Britain, and hope this would resolve the