Decoding the Underrated War of 1812

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The War of 1812 Although the major impact it had, The War of 1812 is a not so well known war in United States history. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and the British Empire along with its Native American allies. The U.S. declared war for several reasons, including free trade and the freedoms of American Navy sailors. The British Empire decided to not allow the U.S. to trade with France because they feared it would affect them negatively in their ongoing war with France. Also in an attempt to keep influence in the Americas, they wanted to establish am Indian state near by the United States. The newly founded United States wanted to explore new parts of North America and increase their number of territories. Some of the …show more content…

At the time Canada was still a British colony, so the British also had the Canadians as allies. President Madison came to the realization that to get free trade, his Navy, and independence back from the clutches of the British Empire was to go to war with them. The United States senate voted on the issue and it passed by a vote of 19-13. The War of 1812 lasted about 3 years, it began in June of 1812 and didn’t end until February of 1815. In October of 1812 the U.S. made a crucial error trying to establish a foothold in Canada. The U.S. suffered serious navigational problems and could not get their forces across the Niagara River. These errors lead to an attack by the British and ultimately a surrender of U.S. troops. With this victory the British Empire controlled the eastern Canada line throughout the war. The next big battle was in September of 1813 at Lake Erie. The United States navy finally had their luck turn around when they outnumbered the British royal navy. They defeated them and took control over the lake, which helped them win back Detroit and also defeat the Indians at the battle of the Tharnes, it was a huge victory for the U.S. navy. The British retailed in many ways during this war, one of them was the

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