With England's naval blockade and the repeated search and seizure of American trade vessels, the United States, led by an aggressive group of leaders in congress known as the Young War Hawks, took a very aggressive approach to Britain and its royal navy. However, the War Hawks and President Madison also had plans of expansion in mind, to extend its boarders to the North Pole, home to royal colonies of the now hated Great Britain. With this plan and the negative feeling toward Britain, the war was just around the corner. And in June of 1812, a full-fledged war was upon them. The war, which lasted approximately two years, was a very bloody and costly bat

The state level also ties into the system, as the states goal was dominance or defeat. The United States tried to invade modern day Canada to increase it national territory and fought many bloody, deadly battles in order to accomplish this goal. Which they eventually failed and did not gain any territory but did not lose any either, the British also attempted to capture key cities and failed as well.

tle to both the United States and Britain.

With a bi-polar international system, you are always in a position of war breaking out at anytime, especially in the days before nuclear warheads. With each pole trying to expand its power and sphere of influence, they were constantly at each other's throat. With Britain still establishing colonies in the west and gaining dominance over the seas with their naval abilities, France was looking for ways to stop Britain.

France began forming alliances with the third player in the game, Russia. With the addition of the Russians France had Britain reeling and worried about a possible invasion and defeat. France, by adding Russia had tipped the scales in its favor, and forced Britain to use its navy that it had begun to build up. Britain began to employ a naval blockade of the European mainland, to stop all incoming and outgoing trade. With this tactic employed France employed the same tactic and this is where the American claim of neutrality was violated. With both Britain and France mandating that any trade ship must first pass through their ports or be subject acts of hostility, America was forced into a no win situation.

So in one fact the international system turned lopsided against Britain, with France forming important alliances with both, Russia in Europe, and The United States in the west. In fact this was Britain's first scare of an invasion and possible defeat on its homeland, and then on it's Western front for the second time. This could have resulted in a shift in the international system to more of a uni-polar system, and Napoleon gaining the empire he craved. The United States could have possibly stretched from ocean to ocean and gulf to pole.

The United States was at this time no position to wage a war and tried to stay on the sidelines for as long as they could. The United States, since the inception of the republic wanted remain isolated to allow for the development of American business, and industry. The United States relied on both countries for trade and had a strong economic dependency. The embargo and seizures of American vessels crippled the country in this period of growth. The United States led by President Madison and The War Hawks developed a very strong feeling against Britain for its recent actions. With the American population starting the migration west into the Louisiana-purchase region of the country, law makers so a possible expansion to the North. With the British occupying the north, the president and congress saw this as a way to kill two birds with one stone. In an address to congress President Madison gave these reasons for asking for a deceleration of war:

Some common words found in the essay are:
United France, Atlantic Ocean, French British, North American, Britain Britain, Empires France, France England, Britain France, War Hawks, France Britain, international system, war hawks, british government, human nature, britain france, naval blockade, french empire, bi-polar system, north american, president madison, colonies north american, north american continent, britain france forming, france forming alliances,
Approximate Word count = 2462
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)