Protecting+Our+People

=Protecting Our People=

**Cailyn's process** **My questions** What was it that made people want to go to war? There was obviously a reason the Americans were upset.

What did president   James Madison    do to protect his people? If President Madison just let his people be captured by the British he was not a very good president. There must have been something he did to settle thing for his people and between Great Britain.


 * Gathering and Evaluating Evidence **
 * I began answering my questions by finding how people felt during the time before the war,on both the american side and British side. **

[|Americans Perspective] The War of 1812 is probably our most obscure conflict. Although a   great deal    has been written about the war, the average American is only vaguely aware of why we fought or who the enemy was. Even those who know something about the contest are likely to remember only a few dramatic moments, such as **the writing of “The Star- Spangled Banner ,” the burning of the nation’s capital, or the Battle of   New Orleans    .**

Another reason for the obscurity of this war is that its causes are complex and little understood today. **Most scholars agree that the war was fought over maritime issues, particularly the Orders in Council, which restricted American trade with the European Continent, and impressment**, which was the Royal Navy’s practice of removing seamen from   American merchant    vessels. In contemporary parlance, the war was fought for "  Free Trade   and Sailors' Rights." These issues seem arcane today. **Moreover, the only way that the United States  to strike at Great Britain was by attacking Canada, and that made it look like a war of territorial aggression.**

[|British Perspective] Some in Britain thought the Orders in Council could be relaxed, and in fact, the Orders were suspended in June of 1812. But no one doubted Britain’s right to impress her sailors, and all blamed the Americans for employing British seamen when the Royal Navy needed them. A decade of American complaints and economic restrictions only served to convince the British that **Jefferson and Madison were pro-French, and violently anti-British**. Consequently, when **America finally declared war, she had very few friends in Britain**. Many remembered the War of Independence, some had lost fathers or brothers in the fighting; others were the sons of Loyalists driven from their homes

War with America was a direct consequence of the Napoleonic conflict. Britain relied on a maritime economic blockade to defeat France. **When American merchants tried to exploit their neutral status to breach this blockade, the British introduced new laws, the ‘Orders in Council’, to block this trading**. In the same spirit, when British warships stopped American merchant ships, they forcibly impressed any British sailors they found into the Royal Navy. While some of these men were Americans, most were British.

The **British had no interest in fighting this war, and once it began, they had one clear goal: keep the United States  from taking any part of Canada.** At the outset, they hoped that, by pointing out that the Orders in Council had been revoked, the U.S. would suspend hostilities. Instead, President Madison demanded an end to impressment, well aware that Britain would not make such a concession in wartime. And so Britain went to war, with no troops to spare to reinforce Canada; it would be defended by a handful of British regulars, Native Americans and Canadian militia.'

1801-1809 - Jefferson's presidency 1803-1807 - Britain and France took over about a thousand American ships 1807-Embargo Act put in place 1809 - Dropped Embargo Act
 * I then began to find out what happened before Madison's presidency that made people so upset and lead to the War of 1812 **
 * Before.. **

Present Time of 1812
1809-1817 - Madisons presidency 1809- Offered France and Britain a peace treaty. That same year France agreed to treaty and then went behind Americans back. They continued to attacked american ships. July 17, 1812 -Declared War

Encyclopedia Britannica Article **Embargo Act, (1807), Pres. Thomas Jefferson’s nonviolent resistance to British and French molestation of U.S. merchant ships carrying, or suspected of carrying, war materials and other** ** cargoes to the European belligerents. ** At Jefferson’s request the two houses of Congress considered and passed the act quickly in December 1807. All U.S. ports were closed to export shipping in either U.S. or foreign vessels, and restrictions were placed on imports from Great Britain. The act was a hardship on U.S. farmers as well as on New England and New York mercantile and maritime interests, especially after being buttressed by harsh enforcement measures adopted in 1808. Its effects in Europe were not what Jefferson had hoped. French and British dealers in U.S. cotton, for example, were able to raise prices at will while the stock already on hand lasted; the embargo would have had to endure until these inventories were exhausted. Napoleon is said to have justified seizure of U.S. merchant ships on the ground that he was assisting Jefferson in enforcing the act. The Federalist leader Timothy Pickering even alleged that Napoleon himself had inspired the embargo. Confronted by bitter and articulate opposition, Jefferson on March 1, 1809 (two days before the end of his second term), signed the Non-Intercourse Act, permitting U.S. trade with nations other than France and Great Britain.
 * I then learned that the Embargo Act was agreed on between Great Britain and The United States.**

**I learned..**
 * ** Even though the Americans were tired of fighting againts the British, the writting of The Star- Spangled Banner took place because of the pride they had **
 * ** "Most scholars agree that the war was fought over maritime issues, particularly the Orders in Council, which restricted American trade with the European Continent, and impressment." **
 * ** "Moreover, the only way that the United States to strike at Great Britain was by attacking Canada, and that made it look like a war of territorial aggression." **
 * ** Jefferson and Madison liked the French but hated the British **
 * ** "America finally declared war, she had very few friends in Britain" **
 * ** "When American merchants tried to exploit their neutral status to breach this blockade, the British introduced new laws, the ‘Orders in Council’, to block this trading" **
 * ** "British had no interest in fighting this war, and once it began, they had one clear goal: keep the United States from taking any part of Canada" **

= = = **Emily** = = **Questions** =
 * My main question was "What was the purpose of putting in the treaty of ghent?" I choose this question because I wanted to know what the problems were before and during the war which are a big part of the Treaty of Ghent. After i began to look into before and during the war more questions came up. One of these questions were "What problems did the Treaty of ghent settle?" I choose this question because I know there were many of problems and I wondered which problems the British and Americans decided to settle. Then that lead me to my next question which was "What problems did the Treaty of Ghent leave unsettled?" I choose this question because I wondered if they had left anything important of of the Treaty of Ghent. **

**Causes of the War** *** This helped me answer my main question about what the purpose of putting in the Treaty of Ghent was.....**
===France and Britain, Europe's two most powerful nations, had battles almost constantly since 1793, and their warfare directly affected American trade. Fighting began during the French Revolution when England united with other European nations in an unsuccessful attempt to restore the French monarchy, and then continued as Britain led the efforts to stop French expansion under Napoleon I. American presidents from Washington to Madison tried to keep the United States impartial during these conflicts, but both France and Britain deliberately ignored the rights of neutral countries.=== ===For the Americans, the greatest annoyance was Britain's practice of impressments, or the capture of American seamen for service in the British navy. The British government claimed that it only detained subjects of the Crown who sailed under the American flag to escape wartime service in their own navy. In fact, the British seized not only their own deserters, but also frightened a significant number of United States citizens-estimates suggest 6000 or more.=== ===Public outrage over the issue of impressments grew increasingly vocal after a clash between the American naval frigate Chesapeake and a British vessel, the Leopard. In June 1807 the Leopard approached the Chesapeake only a few miles off the American coastline and demanded to look for British deserters on the ship. James Barron, the commander of the Chesapeake, refused and the Leopard opened fire. A number of American sailors were killed or wounded during the assault, and the Chesapeake surrendered. The British then sent a crew aboard and dragged four crewmen from the vessel. After the incident, Jefferson ordered British warships to leave American waters and demanded an end to the way of impressments. The British did make some apologies and compensation for the Chesapeake-Leopard incident, but continued to claim the right to seize American ships and check them for deserters.===

**The Americans** **This helped me learn more about the Americans strengths and weaknesses before war.....**
===The United States government had hardly any military resources with which to fight a major war. The British ranked as the world's greatest maritime power, but the U.S. Navy did not possess a single ship of the line, as battleships of the day were called. In fact, the Americans had only eight frigates and eight smaller seaworthy warships. In addition, the government had made no naval measures along the most strategically significant of the waterways bordering Canada-Lakes Champlain, Ontario, and Erie.=== ===As hostilities loomed, Congress authorized a regular army of 35,000 men, but when the United States officially declared war in June 1812, the actual land force was less than 10,000 and nearly half of these soldiers were inexperienced recruits. The existing troops were also widely spread out in small garrisons. The government planned to enhance this regular force with 50,000 volunteers and 100,000 militiamen, the latter to be provided by the states. However, resistance to the war was so strong in New England that the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to call up their militia in response to President Madison's request for troops.===

**The British** **This helped me learn more about the British strengths and weaknesses before war.....**
===In June 1812 British naval forces were significantly superior to the forces of the U.S. Navy, but the British were focused on an array of missions elsewhere, most notably the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. As a result, American warships enjoyed relative freedom of action during the rest of that year. On Lakes Erie and Ontario the British quickly equipped available merchant vessels with guns and gained primary command of the waters. The British land force in Canada totaled about 7000 men, with about 1500 of these soldiers stationed in Upper Canada in the region of the Great Lakes. The remaining British forces patrolled the Maritime Provinces and the St. Lawrence Valley.===

Nov., 1811:

 * ===War Congress convenes.===
 * ===The Battle of Tippecanoe (in present-day Indiana), considered the first battle of the War of 1812, takes place between Tecumseh's brother, The Prophet, and William Henry Harrison's army.===

July, 1812:

 * ===General William Hull enters Canada. This is the first of three failed attempts made by the U.S. to invade Canada.===
 * ===The British force the surrender of Fort Michilimackinac (in present-day Michigan).===

**1813**
===January, 1813: British and Indian allies repel American troops at the Battle of Frenchtown (present-day Michigan). American survivors are killed the following day in the Raisin River Massacre (present-day Michigan).===

July, 1814:

 * ===The Battle of Chippawa (Canada).===
 * ===The Battle of Lundy's Lane (present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada).===

Aug. 24-25, 1814: The British burn Washington, DC in retaliation for the burning of York. President James Madison flees the Capital.
===Sept., 1814: The Battle of Plattsburg on Lake Champlain is a major American victory, securing its northern border. The Battle of Baltimore takes place at Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner.===

War was declared on June 18, 1812
===In August of 1814 a British expedition to Chesapeake Bay won an easy victory at Bladensburg and took Washington, burning the Capitol and the White House. The victorious British, however, were halted at Fort McHenry before they reached Baltimore, persuading British statesmen to end the war.===

The American victory at Fort McHenry near Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
===The Treaty of Ghent was signed in 1814. The British gave up their demands for the Great Lakes region and an American Indian state under British rule. It helped further establish the northern boundary with Canada. The loss of British support gave the Indians little choice but to give up their land in the Northwest Territory.===

**Source**
[|Treaty of Ghent] [of the War]

=**Our Interpretation**= ===After our research we have come to the conclusion that during Jefferson's presidency he hated everything about the British. He thought that putting in The Embargo Act would stop him from having to pay tribute to the Barbary, going to war with the British, and stopping his ships from being attacked by Great Britain and France. Going into the war Britain nor the United States were excited about it. If or when the war started British and the United States both had two completely different missions. Britain's was to keep the Untied States from defeating Canada, the United States wanted to be able to trade again. Since nothing was able to be settled, Madison was really only left with on option. War. Almost every American was tired of the British going behind there back. Since both Countries were tired of fighting and there economys were weakening then decided tp start talking about peace negotiations in 1813, but it was not until 1814 that the treaty was signed by both countries. It was then ratified in 1815. then President James Madsion declared the war officially over! ===