War of 1812

Great Britain wanted to take control of the major waterways in the U.S. They would control the Hudson River in New York to cut off New England from the rest of the country, seize New Orleans and block the port so the Mississippi River could not be used for trade, and attack Chesapeake Bay and Washington, D.C. In August 1814, the British won the Battle of Bladensburg and sailed up the Potomac River to invade Washington, D.C. Many buildings, including the White House, were burned. Madison fled the city before the attack.

Despite the British victories, most British citizens stopped supporting the war in North America. Their twenty-year war against France was close to ending, and they did not want to be at war with another country. Great Britain did not have much to gain from beating the U.S., so negotiations began in August 1814, in Belgium

Even though peace negotiations had begun, the British still attacked Fort McHenry near Baltimore in September. America’s current national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key during this attack. Key was a British prisoner, and he wrote a poem called “The Star Spangled Banner.” The poem officially became the national anthem of the U.S. in 1931. The Americans were able to defend the fort, and the British were also defeated at the Battle of Lake Champlain in New York and retreated back to Canada

After four months of negotiations, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium on December 24. The treaty declared that pre-war boundaries would be reestablished. American neutrality, a major cause of the war, was no longer an issue because the war in Europe was almost over. The treaty allowed things to go back to how they were before the War of 1812 began. Many Americans viewed the war as “America’s Second War for Independence” because they were able to maintain their independence from Great Britain.

The U.S. was finally seen as a strong and independent country by Europe. Another outcome was a stronger American economy. The U.S. had to increase manufacturing during the war because they weren’t able to import needed goods from Great Britain. America became an industrialized country capable of producing its own goods and not having to rely on other countries.

The most decisive American victory of the war came after the peace treaty had already been signed because troops in New Orleans did not know the war was over. In January 1815, General Andrew Jackson led American troops in the Battle of New Orleans. There were over 2,000 British casualties but only 300 American casualties. The victory resulted in Jackson becoming a national hero which helped him win the presidency in 1829