On June 18, 1812, U.S. President James Madison declared war on Great Britain.
Most of the War of 1812 was fought in Upper and Lower Canada and on the Great Lakes. British regulars were reinforced by Native Canadian allies, as well as by the militia – irregular troops made up of Upper and Lower Canadians, including African Canadian volunteers.
The war lasted from 1812 through 1815 and caused widespread destruction, particularly at Niagara, the Detroit River region, and along the St. Lawrence River. The Town of York (modern Toronto) was twice invaded. The reprisal attack by the British on Washington DC resulted in the burning of the Capital Building and the torching of the President’s home (then painted white to cover the burn mark).
In 2012, Canadians and Americans commemorate the War of 1812 Bicentenary with the re-telling of many of the big stories. However, the stories that depict the core complexities of the situation often become silenced.
To unearth these silenced narratives, the City of Toronto’s 1812 Bicentennial team has organized a speaker series at Fort York on October 4, 11, 18 and 25, 2012 entitled The Untold Stories.
On October 11, the theme of The Fight for Legitimacy: Black History and the War of 1812, will dispel the common impression that Blacks all fought on the side of the British, and that the Black allies of the British were well accepted.
Lifewas not that simple.
Invited speakers are Dr. Henry Bishop, co-curator of the nationally travelled exhibit “Africville: A Spirit That Lives On” (1985) and Curator for the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, and Dr. Melissane Schrems from St. Lawrence University, whose research focuses on the local Black History on the War of 1812 in New York state and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians on Cape Cod in the 18th and 19th centuries.
TIME MACHINE: THE WAR OF 1812
This summer marks the 200th anniversary of when President James Madison and the U.S. Congress declared war against Great Britain and the British Empire on June 18, 1812; an act that led to the beginning of the War of 1812 (1812-1814).
The War of 1812 was a major conflict that lasted two-and-a-half years between the young United States nation and the British Empire, along with the latter’s Native American allies. The conflict was fought on both land and the sea, on and near the North American continent.
There were a handful of reasons that led the U.S. government to declare war on Great Britain. Here are a few:
Impressment of American Sailors - Due to the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) waged against Napoleon’s French Empire, sailors aboard American ships found themselves impressed by the Royal Navy and French ships. The British, especially, claimed that many sailors that found themselves aboard American merchant ships were deserters from their Navy. And many of them were. Their efforts to impress sailors from American ships became even more excessive after 1805. The problem of impressment culminated in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, a naval engagement between naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia; on June 22, 1807, between the British warship H.M.S. Leopard and American frigate U.S.S. Chesapeake. The crew of the Leopard pursued, attacked and boarded the American frigate, while looking for deserters from the British Navy.
Orders in Council (1807) - This document was a series of decrees made by Great Britain that forbade French trade with the British Empire, its allies, or neutrals like the United States. The decrees were a response to France’s Berlin Decree of 1806, which forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe. The Orders in Council led the British to use the Royal Navy to enact a blockade of French ports. The British used the Orders in Council as an excuse to bombard Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1807 (Battle of Copenhagen). They did so to prevent the Danish from joining France’s Continental System. The British also used their decrees as an excuse for their policy of stopping neutral (including American) ships from trading with France. President Thomas Jefferson responded to the Orders by passing the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbade U.S. ships from trading with Britain and France. The act proved to be very ineffective, unpopular, and led to economic strain in the U.S., until it was repealed in 1809. Great Britain repealed the Orders in Council on June 16, 1812. But the news of the repeal, which gave great concessions to the U.S., did not reach American shores in time to prevent Congress from declaring war on the British.
American Expansion - This is believed to be one of the major causes of the war. The Americans wanted expansion into the Native American lands of the Northwest Territory and the Upper Mississippi Valley. However, the tribes blocked their expansion and the British supported this block. The British worried about American desire for Canada, a problem that first manifested during the American Revolution. Many American historians believe that the U.S. desire for the conquest of Canada is nothing more than a staple of Canadian opinion since the 1830s and that it was never a permanent war goal, merely a tool for negotiations. However, many do believe that if the U.S. had been successful in acquiring control of Canadian lands, the government would have been very reluctant to returned the occupied territory to the British.
Despite the many reasons that led to the beginning of the War of 1812, it took certain incidents that led the U.S. to declare war on Great Britain. Confrontations between the Royal Navy and American ships (both military and commercial) like the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and the Leander Affair, the series of economic decrees and embargo acts, and military conflicts between the Native Americans and the Americans like the Tecumseh War in which the British supported the natives, finally led to the development of a coalition of young congressmen from the Democratic-Republican party (popular in the West and the South) called the “War Hawks”. Led by Henry Clay Sr. of Kentucky andJohn C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the “War Hawks” pushed for a declaration of war against Britain. President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress on June 1, 1812; listing American grievances against Great Britain. The House of Representatives quickly voted to declare war against the British, followed by the Senate. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812; when President Madison signed the measure into law.
If you have any further interest in the War of 1812, the following is a sample of books you might want to read:
*“The War of 1812 – A Forgotten Conflict” by Donald R. Hickey
*“The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent” by J.C.A. Stagg
*“1812: War With America” by Jon Latimer
This summer marks the 200th anniversary of when President James Madison and the U.S. Congress declared war against Great Britain and the British Empire on June 18, 1812; an act that led to the beginning of the War of 1812 (1812-1814).
The War of 1812 was a major conflict that lasted two-and-a-half years between the young United States nation and the British Empire, along with the latter’s Native American allies. The conflict was fought on both land and the sea, on and near the North American continent.
There were a handful of reasons that led the U.S. government to declare war on Great Britain. Here are a few:
Impressment of American Sailors - Due to the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) waged against Napoleon’s French Empire, sailors aboard American ships found themselves impressed by the Royal Navy and French ships. The British, especially, claimed that many sailors that found themselves aboard American merchant ships were deserters from their Navy. And many of them were. Their efforts to impress sailors from American ships became even more excessive after 1805. The problem of impressment culminated in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, a naval engagement between naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia; on June 22, 1807, between the British warship H.M.S. Leopard and American frigate U.S.S. Chesapeake. The crew of the Leopard pursued, attacked and boarded the American frigate, while looking for deserters from the British Navy.
Orders in Council (1807) - This document was a series of decrees made by Great Britain that forbade French trade with the British Empire, its allies, or neutrals like the United States. The decrees were a response to France’s Berlin Decree of 1806, which forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe. The Orders in Council led the British to use the Royal Navy to enact a blockade of French ports. The British used the Orders in Council as an excuse to bombard Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1807 (Battle of Copenhagen). They did so to prevent the Danish from joining France’s Continental System. The British also used their decrees as an excuse for their policy of stopping neutral (including American) ships from trading with France. President Thomas Jefferson responded to the Orders by passing the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbade U.S. ships from trading with Britain and France. The act proved to be very ineffective, unpopular, and led to economic strain in the U.S., until it was repealed in 1809. Great Britain repealed the Orders in Council on June 16, 1812. But the news of the repeal, which gave great concessions to the U.S., did not reach American shores in time to prevent Congress from declaring war on the British.
American Expansion - This is believed to be one of the major causes of the war. The Americans wanted expansion into the Native American lands of the Northwest Territory and the Upper Mississippi Valley. However, the tribes blocked their expansion and the British supported this block. The British worried about American desire for Canada, a problem that first manifested during the American Revolution. Many American historians believe that the U.S. desire for the conquest of Canada is nothing more than a staple of Canadian opinion since the 1830s and that it was never a permanent war goal, merely a tool for negotiations. However, many do believe that if the U.S. had been successful in acquiring control of Canadian lands, the government would have been very reluctant to returned the occupied territory to the British.
Despite the many reasons that led to the beginning of the War of 1812, it took certain incidents that led the U.S. to declare war on Great Britain. Confrontations between the Royal Navy and American ships (both military and commercial) like the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and the Leander Affair, the series of economic decrees and embargo acts, and military conflicts between the Native Americans and the Americans like the Tecumseh War in which the British supported the natives, finally led to the development of a coalition of young congressmen from the Democratic-Republican party (popular in the West and the South) called the “War Hawks”. Led by Henry Clay Sr. of Kentucky andJohn C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the “War Hawks” pushed for a declaration of war against Britain. President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress on June 1, 1812; listing American grievances against Great Britain. The House of Representatives quickly voted to declare war against the British, followed by the Senate. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812; when President Madison signed the measure into law.
If you have any further interest in the War of 1812, the following is a sample of books you might want to read:
*“The War of 1812 – A Forgotten Conflict” by Donald R. Hickey
*“The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent” by J.C.A. Stagg
*“1812: War With America” by Jon Latimer
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