War of 1812
When we hear the phase, "the forgotten war", most of us think of the military conflict on the Korean Peninsula from June 1950 to July 1953. The most famous incident of this "forgotten war" occurred in 1951, when President Truman relieved General MacArthur of his command. MacArthur returned to America, where he was hailed as a hero and urged to run for president. He chose instead to retire to private life after a farewell address to a joint session of Congress in which he quoted a World War I British Army song: "Old soldiers never die; they simply fade away" ("1951", 1995, 1996). However, the US has an earlier, more important, and more completely forgotten war. This is the War of 1812, in which the young nation won its independence from Great Britain for the second time in less than fifty years. Few people today are aware that the United States had to fight the War of Independence twice, or that the US ever had a war with Canada. The War of 1812 placed the US against its former colonial ruler, Great Britain, and lasted two and a half years. The war reached its high point with the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, and thereafter, Britain finally came to recognize the US as an independ
"Jefferson's Administrations." (1997, June 3). Growth of the Nation 1800 - 40. www.libarts.sfasu.edu/history/ Feldmeth, Greg D. (1998, March 31). "Key Events & Causes: War of 1812." U.S. History Resources. home.earthlink.net/ Mahon, John K. (1972). The War of 1812. Gainesville: Univ. of Florida Press. Byron, Gilbert. (1963). The War of 1812 on the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore. Maryland Historical Society. The evidence clearly shows that the rhetoric about honor and the plight of American seamen did not express the underlying causes of the War of 1812. Instead, it provided the motivation for ordinary Americans who had no direct economic interest in the shipping industry to support the war effort. Moreover, the fight was never carried to England. In fact, in the early stages of the war, the fighting was focused on the Canadian-American border. Felix Grundy, a Congressman from Tennessee, claimed most of the credit for convincing Congress to pass a declaration of war against Britain. It seemed foolish for the young nation, with its weak military, to go to war against one of the most substantial military powers of the time. Grundy, a Nashville lawyer, provided the War Hawks with the rhetoric necessary to lead the nation into a conflict that was widely considered unpopular (Lee, 1999, p. 1). Lee, Ronald A. (1999, April 16). "Brief History of Tennessee in the War of 1812." Prepared by Tom Kanon, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Historical and Genealogical Information. Contact: reference@mail.state.tn.us. www.state.tn.us/sos/statelib/pubsvs/tn1812.htm, two pages. Dudley, William S., and Crawford, Michael J., eds. (1985). The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History. Washington: Naval Historical Center: GPO, Vol. 1, 1812; Vol. 2, 1813. "XYZ Affair." (1996-97). Encarta 98 Desk Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation. The official history states that the British Navy provoked the war by seizing American ships, and performing acts of insult and injury on American seamen. The British did engage in the seizure and forced sale of merchant ships and their cargoes for allegedly violating the British blockade of Europe, but the Americans ignored the practice of the French Navy, which had declared a counter-blockade of the British Isles and had seized American ships. The British made more seizures than the French because the British "Navy had greater command of the seas. The second, more insulting, type of outrage was the capture of men from American vessels for forced service in the Royal Navy. The pretext for impressment was the search for deserters, who, the British claimed, had taken employment on American vessels" ("The War of 1812", 1998, p. 1). Ordinary Americans reacted to impressment much more passionately than to the seizure of ships and cargoes. On the other hand, the maritime int! The year 1812 did not seem to be a good time for the US to go to war. The young nation was still working hard to establish the powers and limits of its national government and to build its infrastructure. For example, the construction of the National Road (or Cumberland Highway ) had begun in 1811, and this work lasted until 1818. In 1812 Louisiana became the first state to develop from the Louisiana Purchase. In May 1812, Congress included West Florida in Mississippi Territory, setting up the possibility of conflict with Spain. After the War of 1812 began, General Wilkerson occupied the Spanish fort at Mobile, Alabama, which was the only possession that the US retained after the War of 1812 was over. The US was not prepared to fight, and the weakness of its military which forced Jefferson to seek diplomatic solutions to any conflict.
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Approximate Word count = 2812
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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