The War of 1812

The War of 1812

Canada before the war: • English Canadians thought of themselves as

British Subjects or AmericansCanada after the war:• Newfound Canadian Identity

International Setting

• Napoleon Seizes power in France (1799)• 1803-1812 Britain restricts trade with France –

blocks US ships• 1803 Napoleon realizes Louisiana is

indefensible so he sells it to the US (Louisiana Purchase)

• Britain interdicts American ships trading with France – presses sailors into service in the Royal Navy

The War of 1812

• Britain seizes 1,000 US ships trading with France

• War Hawks push for war in US Congress• Battle of Tippecanoe – British backed FNP

attack Americans in the interior of the US (Indian Wars).

• Americans declare war on Britain June 18, 1812

The War of 1812

• Americans thought war would be quick – British preoccupied with war in France

But:• New England didn’t want war – they made

money through trade with the CanadasSo: • most of the battles fought in Southern

Ontario, on the Great Lakes and in the Richelieu Valley

Important Battles in Canada

• Battle of Lake Erie• Battle of Beaver Dam

Laura Secord• Battle of Queenstown Heights

General Isaac Brock

The War of 1812

• Americans attack and burn York (April 1813)• Napoleon defeated British focus on N.A.• British and Canadian troops respond by

sacking the American capital Washington• Burn Congress and the White House

The War of 1812

• President and Dolly Madison barely escape with their lives.

• British continue up the Potomac to Baltimore

The War of 1812

• Put siege to Fort McHenry on their way to Baltimore

• 1500 bombshells including Congreve rockets (first used in Spain)

• Washington Lawyer Francis Scott Key watches nearby

• Observes a huge American battle flag raised over the fort to replace a storm flag and wrote a poem

The War of 1812Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early lightWhat so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last

gleaming?Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous

fight,O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly

streaming?And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night that our flag was still

there.Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The War of 1812

• December 24, 1814. The Treaty of Ghent• Status Quo Ante Bellum• January 1815. The Battle of New Orleans

The War of 1812

• Andrew Jackson defeats the British – 700 British killed, 1400 wounded.

• US lose 8 soldiers

Summary

• First step in constructing Canadian Identity• Heroes: Secord, Brock• Last time until 911 that the US has faced an

attack on home soil in North America• US develops a regular military• War virtually ignored in the US (hmm wonder

why?)