Emerging colonial frontiers
The
Anglo-American War
| GRADE LEVEL | THEME | TOPIC | DURATION |
| 7 | SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY | EMERGING COLONIAL FRONTIERS | x LESSONS |
Emerging colonial frontiers |
During the 19th century America was determined to win its independence from Britain, and the Anglo-American War of 1812 was about this. The war lasted for 2 years, from 1812 to 1814, and ended without any clear victor. Causes of the war An important cause for the conflict was the war between France and England in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte, the French leader, was determined to expand his empire by winning North American territory. He succeeded in gaining the area west of the Mississippi River called Louisiana. It was also possible that, if the British won, the area would become British territory. The American people did not want the French nor the British to dominate them.
Picture A: Napoleon Bonaparte It became obvious that Napoleon would not be able to keep Louisiana and, instead of losing the territory to Britain he decided to sell it to the United States for $15 million. The transaction was called the Louisiana Purchase. It was a huge piece of land, double the size of the United States of America at the time of the deal on 12 April 1803.
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A: The territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase America had won its independence from Britain during the American Revolution or American War of Independence, which lasted from 1775 to 1783. The relationship between the two countries was polite but some Americans believed that all British territory, including Canada, should have been taken during the revolution. During the last Napoleonic War the British Navy conquered the French navy and became the rulers of the oceans. Napoleon tried to limit this power by ordering several European countries to stop all trade with Britain. In turn Britain blockaded European harbours, stopping foreign ships from offloading cargo. International trade was badly affected by these actions and many Americans lost business, leading to more resentment towards Britain. This was only the beginning of British rule of the sea and the Royal British Navy started searching American trade ships for deserted British soldiers. If a seaman was suspected of being a deserter he would be taken from his ship and forced into the British military. This act called impressment and caused much tension between the two countries. Americans saw this as unlawful and unfair, especially towards the innocent men who had never been in the British forces. Thomas Jefferson, the President of the United States of America at the time, realised that his country would not be able to beat Britain in a war and decided to use other tactics. In 1807 the American government passed a law forbidding American ships to leave their harbours to trade with foreign countries. He hoped that this would lead to shortages in Britain, but the plan failed.
Picture B: President James Madison James Madison became President in 1809 and by 1810 a more determined group of men entered the American Congress. These men believed it was necessary to take stronger action against Britain and wanted to conquer the entire North American continent, especially Canada. They wanted the northern British colony’s rich natural resources, like wood and water. This group of men and their supporters were known as the War Hawks. They pushed north and came into conflict with Native American tribes who saw the settlers as invaders. In 1809 Tecumseh, seen as the greatest Native American chief in North America and leader of the Shawnee people, asked for and received help from the British to stop the Americans from moving further north. He had seen what had happened to Indian tribes in the other American territories and wanted to protect his people from destruction. This made the situation between American and Britain worse.
Picture C: Tecumseh By 1811 the War Hawks were demanding an invasion of British North America, or Canada. They had the attention of the American people and enough power within the government to make their case heard. On 18 June 1812 America declared war on Britain. On 23 June 1812 Britain withdrew all its restrictions on American trade, in order to stop a war but it was too late. The American people were not united in support of the war and many people showed their dissatisfaction by hanging their national flag half-mast when the war was declared. The War At the beginning of the Anglo American War most of Britain’s army was deployed in Europe against the French. A small group of only 4 450 men was sent to America to protect the Canadian border and it seemed that the Americans would easily win Canada. There were few people to resist. Food and weapons were scarce and America seemed set for success. The American side also had its shortcomings. Soldiers were poorly skilled and didn’t have the necessary equipment. The rough terrain and lack of roads made the situation more difficult. They invaded Canada 3 times but failed to win. In 1814, after Britain defeated France, British veteran soldiers were sent to the Canadian front. The British began to overrun American forces and started blockading their harbours. At this point both America and Britain were anxious to end the conflict. They signed a peace treaty at Ghent on 24 December 1814, but fighting continued until the middle of February. Click here for more on all the battles fought during the war. Read more about the key events before and during the war. The Treaty of Ghent and the aftermath of the war
Picture D: The signing of the Treaty of Ghent Click here to read the Treaty of Ghent. In 1814 the British and American governments started peace talks in Ghent, Belgium. Both nations were so anxious for peace that they didn’t solve some of the issues that caused the war. The impressment of sailors was not mentioned and the Native American land claims were ignored. Neither country won any territory and the outcome of the war was inconclusive, although many people had died. After the war there was a greater sense of Canadian and American nationalism and pride. Canadian people distrusted Americans and the tensions between the two countries stopped them from cooperating with each other. English and French-speaking Canadians grew closer. Britain spent a great deal of money in Canada improving the general quality of life. At the time Canada was made up of a group of provinces. After the war these provinces were forced to cooperate with each other for security. Europe now also saw America as an equal, which resulted in America stopping trade with the continent. The United States isolated themselves from Europe for 100 years and developed its own trade and manufacturing industry. Industrialisation sped up and railways, canals, telegraph systems and local ocean trade using clipper ships boomed.
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D: A Clipper Ship Read more about clipper ships. Click here for the history of clipper ships. Learning Outcome: The learner is able to compile and organise information from images to obtain evidence about the Anglo-American War, to use that information to present answers to questions and to describe and make links between reasons for and results of events and changes
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