into the British Navy, but the Americans, not unreasonably, thought that it was patently unfair that their sons, husbands, and brothers should be forced to serve in a foreign country’s navy. Americans were unconvinced by British arguments that they were involved in a life-and-death struggle with Napoleon and needed every spare man available to serve aboard ships.

What really rankled Americans most of all, however, was the fact that the British were supplying arms to Native tribes as part of an attempt to create a buffer state that would block north-westward expansion. The British were concerned that if the United States expanded to the Pacific Northwest the Americans would try and annex Canada, which was a British colony at that time.

The War of 1812 is sometimes called the Second War of Independence.  The reason for this is that the war was fought because the British did various things that showed that they did not yet accept the idea that the US was a sovereign country.  The war, which ended in a draw, led Britain to see the US as more of an independent country.

The war started because of three main things that the British were doing.  First, the British were keeping forts on American territory in what was then called the Northwest.  Second, from these forts, the British were arming Native Americans and encouraging them to attack white American settlers.  In other words, the British were fomenting attacks on the US from within its own territory.  Finally, the British were stopping American ships in international waters.  They were doing this partly to stop the US from trading with France (there was a war between Britain and France).  In addition, they were doing this to allow them to “impress” American sailors and force them into the British navy.

The war did not have a lot of really big events.  It was a rather short war without a huge amount of fighting.  There are three main events that are well-remembered.  First, this was the war in which the British attacked Washington, D.C. and burned the White House.  Second, it was the war in which Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” while watching a battle.  Finally, it was the war in which Andrew Jackson led American forces that defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans.

The War Of 1812 started in June of 1812 when the U.S. declared war against Great Britain. At the time, Great Britain was already engaged in a war with France that resulted in British-French skirmishes in many international territories and ultimately impacted the U.S. both economically and through the perceived provocation of domestic unrest.

For one thing, both Great Britain and France wanted to limit the international trade that the other could participate in in order to hurt their enemy's economy. However, limiting the opposing country's international trade also impacted the economies of their trade partners, including the young United States. While France had originally also refuted the U.S.'s neutral rights to trade with Great Britain, France had changed its views a couple of years before the War of 1812 began. However, Great Britain maintained its policy that any foreign ship sailing towards a French maritime destination would be subject to search and seizure by the British naval fleet, the greatest in the world at the time. British ships proactively stopped U.S. ships at sea and also conscripted American sailors into the British navy against their will.

The U.S. had freed itself of the yoke of the British monarch just a few decades earlier and was unwilling to let Great Britain determine how or with whom it could conduct its international trade. It is easy to understand how anti-British sentiment still prevailed so shortly after the U.S. had fought its war of independence against Great Britain. Moreover, some Americans feared that the British were provoking unrest in the United States by providing arms to Native American tribes that were in conflict with U.S. settlers who were broadening the territorial scope of their settlements.

Moreover, Britain's trade restrictions hurt the U.S economy just as they hurt France. President Thomas Jefferson signed the Embargo Act in 1807 closing U.S. ports to international trade. This proved to be a misstep and the U.S. economy fell into a depression. Anti-British sentiment was escalating. The U.S. congress asserted that Great Britain had violated its maritime rights and declared war in 1812. The war ended in February 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

The U.S. declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, officially beginning the War of 1812. The war lasted until February 1815. Although people often think of the American Revolution as the United States' first war, the War of 1812 is the first war the U.S. fought after it became an independent nation.

The war is often seen in Europe as a minor appendage of the larger Napoleonic Wars which engulfed the European continent in the early nineteenth century. The U.S., however, understands it as a standalone war it fought against Britain.

The British were using their immense naval power in the early 1800s to try to blockade ports to choke off France's commerce with its trading partners. As a trading partner of France and an ally to the French, the United States resented the British interference. Events, long brewing, came to a head as the British, short of men, began stopping American ships and impressing (drafting) men they arbitrarily decided were British into the British army. To the Americans, this was simply kidnapping of their citizens. Not only was the United States incensed at British actions, it wanted to decisively show it would stick up for itself against a nation it felt was acting as a high handed bully.

The War of 1812 ended in a draw, with neither side winning.

The War of 1812, as its name suggests, began in 1812.  A peace treaty was signed in December of 1814, but with the slow communications of that time, British forces in the United States did not learn of the treaty until much later.  This meant that there was one major battle fought in the US in 1815.  So, you could say that the war lasted from 1812 until either 1814 or 1815.

The War of 1812 came about because the Americans were unhappy about things that the British were doing.  They were unhappy about British forts on American soil.  They were particularly unhappy about the British practice of stopping American ships and impressing sailors from those ships.  In general, they felt that the British did not respect American sovereignty and independence.  For this reason, the US declared war on Britain in June of 1812.

The war was not a terribly bloody war and neither side really defeated the other.  The most famous incidents in the war came when the British attacked Washington, D.C. and burned the US Capitol and when the US, led by Andrew Jackson, defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in early 1815.

There were several reasons why the War of 1812 occurred. One important reason was the concern that the British were interfering with our trade. As a neutral nation, we had the right to trade with other countries. However, Great Britain was locked in a conflict with France.  Great Britain didn’t want the French to receive products from the United States. As a result, Great Britain was seizing our ships and impressing our sailors. When Great Britain refused to stop interfering with our trade and impressing our sailors, some Americans began to advocate for going to war against Great Britain.

Some westerners also believed the British were encouraging the Native Americans to attack us. Some young people, known as the War Hawks, got elected to the United States Senate in 1810, and they supported going to war against Great Britain. They were concerned that Great Britain was encouraging these attacks by the Native Americans.

As a result of these reasons, the United States went to war against Great Britain in 1812.

The War of 1812 is sometimes called the “Second War of Independence.”  This is because it was a war that was fought mainly to force the British to truly treat the United States as an independent country. 

After the Revolutionary War, the former colonies became, of course, an independent country.  However, they were still extremely weak.  This meant that the British could do various things that one country should not do to another independent and sovereign country.  First, the British kept forts in American territory in what was then called the Northwest.  Secondly, the British used those forts as outposts from which to encourage Indians to attack American settlements.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the British interfered with American shipping.  They tried to prevent the US from trading with France when France and Britain were at war.  They also “impressed” American sailors.  This means that British naval ships stopped American merchant ships and, when they wanted to, took American sailors and forced them to serve in the Royal Navy. 

All of these things were highly insulting to the Americans and they ended up causing the US to go to war.

The War of 1812 is commonly known as America's Second war of Independence. 

After the USA won initial independence from Britain, the British Navy continued to prey on US shipping, seizing US sailors and forcing them to serve in the British Navy.  This policy was called Impressment.  France also did this.  In response the US adopted an embargo against France and Britain.  France ceased the practice by 1811, Britain continued Impressment. 

In 1812, seeing an excuse to invade Canada and no end to Impressment, the US Congress declared war on the slimmest margin ever for a Declaration of War (1 vote).