During the nineteenth century, America shifted from a small, developing country into a world power. One of the events that led to this development was the War of 1812. This war is often called “America’s second war for independence” because Great Britain continued its interference in America’s affairs. There is not one definite cause that started the war but many factors that blended with one another. These factors can be grouped into three main concerns which are maritime impressment, territorial expansion, and the Republican War Hawks. This dispute on the seas involved America’s international trade and may have been the biggest concern. Britain began blockading ships from going to France because of a war between the two countries, and as a result, ships had to first go through British ports in order to trade with France. Britain immediately considered any ship that did not stop any enemy. Another dilemma was the problem of British impressment of American soldiers at sea. The British felt they had the right to …show more content…
This was easy for the British because of the pressure the Native Americans faced due to the expansion of America. During the war, Americans called for an invasion of Canada mostly because of the support the British were giving Native Americans in the northwest. The last cause of the war were the War Hawks, a nickname was given to Republicans who wanted to go to war with Britain. Many of them had just been elected into office and wanted to change the direction of the country. Some feel the War Hawks should be blamed for the war because they wanted to fight even though the Americas military was weak and flawed at the time. These War Hawks wanted war because they felt that they needed it to recover America’s dignity that had been destroyed in the