The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict

Running Head: HISTORY ESSAY
History essay
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Author’s Note

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HISTORY ESSAY
The war of 1812 had been one of the most obscure conflicts in the history of America. In spite of
the long drawn researches that have been conducted in favor of this war, the average Americans
like us are merely aware of the whereabouts of the war, including the actual issue which initiated
the war. Most of the general Americans are not even informed about who were the adversaries
during this war. In fact, the people who possess minimal information about the ware are only
aware of the specific dramatic occurrences like the writing on the Star Spangled Banner, the
burning of the capital of the nation or the battle that took place in the New Orleans.
On investigating the reasons for obscurity regarding the war, one obvious reason seems to
be the presence of the great president who was thoroughly associated with the war. The USA
declared their independence from Britain in the year 1776 and gained their position as an
independent country in the year 17831. Following that, the constitution of USA was developed
and George Washington ascended the post as the first ever President of Free USA.
In the 1793, when the war broke out between Great Britain and the French, Thomas Jefferson
objectified the purchase of Louisiana Territory from the French2. However, it is evident that at
this time, not only the English or the French, rather the whole of Europe was at war with each
other. Both English and the French perceived that the supply ships of America were helping the
opponent. That is why both the sides started to routinely stop the American ships. Both French
and British demanded to invigilate the cargo holds and such claims ended in to violent outcomes
on most occasions. This situation of animosity grew further when the imposition of restriction
over American shipping came from the ends of the British in the year 1807. As a reply the
1 Shi, David E., and George Brown Tindall. America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company, 2016.
2 Cox, Ashley. Wilsonian Approaches to American Conflicts: From the War of 1812 to the First Gulf War. Routledge,
2017.
Hickey, Donald. "An American Perspective on the War of 1812." PBS. Retrieved May 26 (2018).

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HISTORY ESSAY
American National Congress passed the Embargo Act who prohibited trading with the British. It
was expected that cutting off American trade would impact the two European nations at war.
Rather, it turned out that in the backfire it was America who was hurt.
As indicated above, the war of 1812 is often referred to as the Forgotten War as also the
Second Revolutionary War. This was mostly a battle over ego and this is evident in the words
that President Harry Truman uses to describe this war:
“The silliest damn war we ever had”
The war was partly caused by disagreements over shipping as well as trade amidst the
high seas and partly because of the kidnapping of the American sailors who were forcefully
made to serve in the navy of Britain. In US, there was a differentiation of attitude between the
West and the south, which was looking for a significant battle. However, David reports that the
New England was strictly against holding a war on these two mere grounds. The opposition
started to gain in strength as the war progressed. The members were in favor of the war, within
the Congress, pushed for keeping the fight on3. President, James Madison was on the verge of
asking Congress for giving consent to declare the war. Finally, it was the USA who first declared
war on Great Britain, at the time of their war with the French in the year 18124.
In the year 1794, the constitution of USA emphasized on the introduction of the navy.
Permission was also granted from the Congress who granted the construction of six navy ships.
One famous ship out of them was the U.S.S Constitution5. The time taken for the construction of
3 Cress, Lawrence Delbert. Citizens in Arms: The Army and Militia in American Society to the War of 1812. UNC
Press Books, 2017.
4 Peace, Roger. "The War of 1812." United States Foreign Policy History and Resource Guide Website (2016).
5 Lucas, Michael T., and Julie M. Schablitsky. "Alarum in North America: An Overview of the War of 1812 and a
Context to the Archaeological Studies in this Book." In Archaeology of the War of 1812, pp. 19-36. Routledge, 2016.

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HISTORY ESSAY
the ship had been three years and the total cost incurred for the constriction had been $318,719.
It had been the second largest warship of the modern times. The active presence of the ship
during the war of 1812 helped the US by sinking significant number of ship pertaining to the
British navy. As informed by Ashley the ship accounted for capturing 24 vessels of the enemy in
all.
The end of the first significant battle in 1812 accounted as a disaster for the USA. The
major incident that is remembered by Americans as a cause of surrendering before the British is
the moment when General William Hull who had an army of 2200 men in possession,
surrendered straightforward to the British army at Detroit. Most importantly, as Donald
discusses, he did not even fire a single shot. Although the reason that led him to surrendered in
such a pitiable way, is unclear. However, in this context, an excerpt from a letter written by an
American soldier Private Nathaniel Adams can be highlighted:
“We could have whipped the hell out of the rascals but General Hull has proved himself a traitor
and a coward” (Nardo, 2000).
Incidentally, after two years of this incident, Hull had to accept death penalty for his acute
display of cowardice. However, he was later pardoned by President James Madison.
The next battle was obviously much more crucial and the troops needed to cross Niagara
and step in to Canada. The army of Americans numbering to 6000 under the commandment of
Stephen Van Rensselaer went on to invade Canada6. The Canadian army under the leadership of
British Commander General Issac Brock invaded the Americans while they were busy crossing
6 Lockau, Laura, Rebecca Gilmour, Jean-Paul Menard, Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan, Ana-Maria Dragomir,
Madeleine Mant, Lelia Watamaniuk, and Megan Brickley. "“Buck and Ball”: Identification and interpretation of
buckshot injuries to the pelvis from the War of 1812." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 6 (2016): 424-
433.