The War of 1812

To Great Britain the War of 1812 was simply a burdensome adjunct of
its greater struggle against Napoleonic France. To the Canadians it
was clearly a case of naked American aggression. But to the Americans
it was neither simple nor clear. The United States entered the war
with confused objectives and divided loyalties and made peace without
settling any of the issues that had induced the nation to go to war.

The immediate origins of the war were seizure of American ships,
insults and injuries to American seamen by the British Navy, and
rapid expansion of the American frontier. The British outrages at sea
took two distinct forms. One was the seizure and forced sale of
merchant ships and their cargoes for allegedly violating the British
blockade of Europe. Although France had declared a counterblockade of
the British Isles and had seized American ships, England was the
chief offender because its 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.

As a result of these long simmering disputes, the United States
finally declared War on June 18, 1812. The war concluded with the
Treaty of Ghent in 1814; restoring “status quo ante bellum”
or “as things were before the war”.