New Government in Operation
Level 2
Vocabulary
Counterattack: to attack back
Impressment: forcing people to serve in a navy
War Hawk: someone who wanted a war
Artillery: large fire arms (ex. cannon)
POW: prisoners of war
Massacre: unnecessary mass killing
Battery: fortification filled with artillery
Tecumseh: Shawnee Chief and a leader of the Indian Confederacy who fought against US settlers on the western frontier
Essential Questions
What were the causes of the War of 1812
What were some of the major battles of the War
of 1812?
What were the results of the War of 1812
How do you think relations between the Native
American and the US will progress in the future?
Causes of the War of 1812
France and Britain hurt American trade by seizing ships.
Britain impressed US sailors into the British navy.
Britain encouraged attacks by Natives on settlers in the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.
British refused to remove troops from the Louisiana Territory.
War Hawks wanted to add Canada to the States as well as Florida from Spain.
Americans desired the expansion of the country.
Events in the War
of 1812
Battles and Movements of US
and British troops
Three Areas of Conflict
Great Lakes Area
Chesapeake Bay Area
New Orleans Area
Events in the War of 1812:
Constitution “Old Ironsides” vs. Guerriere
U.S.S. Constitution outgunned and was faster than any other ship.
Constitution got close to HMS Guerriere while taking little damage.
The British fired first on the up roll of the waves, They shot high into Constitution’s rigging and sails which did little damage.
The Americans waited to fire on the down roll, striking Guerriere’s hull and masts that destroyed the British ship.
Constitution suffered little damage and had 7 killed and 7 wounded
Guerriere was too damaged to salvage and was burned.
Britain had 79 casualties.
Victory over Guerriere helped establish the ability of the US Navy.
Game
The USS Constitution captures HMS Guerriere, 19 August 1812
Events in the War of 1812:
Battle of Lake Erie Sept. 10, 1813
(August 1, 1813) Britain withdrew its blockade and the American fleet sailed into Lake Erie
(Sept. 10) USS Lawrence and 8 other American ships, 54 guns vs. Detroit and 5 other ships 63 cannons that had a range twice as long as the Americans, met on Lake Erie.
Lawrence suffered about 80% casualties and Commodore Perry had to abandon ship and row to Niagara to attack again.
The British tried to turn their ships to face with the non-bombarded side but collided with each other and were entangled.
Perry attacked and the British surrendered.
Results:
American control of Lake Erie
Improved American morale
Fort Malden was abandoned and the British retreated up to Detroit
6 ships were taken by the Americans
Events in the War of 1812:
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Background:
(1813–14), The Creeks were in a civil war between those who followed Tecumseh and those who were willing to change their way of living to appease the whites.
Red Sticks (followers of Tecumseh) attacked white settlements.
The Red Sticks went to Pensacola to get firearms from the Spanish and were ambushed by Americans from Fort Mims.
The Red Sticks counterattacked & the US retreated to Fort Mims.
The US didn’t reinforce defenses and the main gate was left open.
(August 30, 1813), The Red Sticks conducted a surprise attack on 553 frontiersmen at Fort Mims.
The Red Sticks defeated the Americans and then massacred most of the survivors including women and children.
In response to the massacre, General Andrew Jackson and 5,000militiamen attacked a fortified Creek village at Horseshoe Bend
Red Sticks were greatly outnumbered
Armaments destroyed the defenses
About 800 warriors died
500 women and children were imprisoned
Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians
Events in the War of 1812:
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Result:
Treaty of Fort Jackson
(1814) The Creeks
ceded most of their
lands in southern
Alabama to Georgia
Events in the War of 1812: Burning of Washington D.C. August 24, 1814
British defeated American militiamen at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, where President Madison took command of one of the batteries.
The British marched unopposed into Washington, D.C.
Government officials left the capital.
The British army entered Washington.
British troops looted and burned the President’s House, the Capitol building,House of Representatives and Library of Congress, a number of federal buildings, and several private homes to get revenge for York.
(August 26) The British withdrew.
Tom Freeman's painting of the August 24, 1814 burning of the
President’s House by British troops during the War of 1812.
Events in the War of 1812:
Battle of Baltimore Sept. 12, 1814
British troops landed near Baltimore.
Defense of Baltimore was well prepared to slow the advancement of the British troops.
9,000 US militia
The British crossed the North Point Peninsula between two rivers where the Maryland militia waited with 3,000.
The British broke through the first two American lines and the militia withdrew.
They failed to break the third American line, and their land path to Baltimore was blocked.
The British tried to capture Fort McHenry to open the water route to Baltimore:
The British had five bomb ketches capable of firing mortar rounds 4,000 yards, twice the range of the guns of the Fort.
The rounds dropped all day and night
When morning broke and the civilians saw the American flag still flying, they were relieved.
Francis Scott Key wrote the first verse of the Star Spangled Banner that would later become the US national anthem.
The British withdrew.
It was an American victory.
Events in the War of 1812: Hartford
Convention 1814
New England shipping suffered because of the war but the Federalists overlooked the boom in industry in NewEngland.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont sent delegates to Hartford for secret meetings. Some wanted to secede or at least threaten secession to get their way but most thought that was too radical and were worried that seceding from the Union could start a civil war.
Hartford Convention's final demands:
Federal financial aid to help New England's trade economy
7 Constitutional amendments
The members of the Hartford Convention sent messengers with their demands to Washington.
They arrived as news of the Treaty of Ghent and the victory in New Orleans reached the city.
As a result of the timing, no real thought was given to the demands.
Importance:
continued the idea of states' rights
Federalist party began to die out
The End of the War of 1812:
Treaty of Ghent December 24, 1814
Treaty of Ghent
Restored pre-war status:
End hostilities
End British influence in Northwest Territory
Restoration of conquered territory
Arbitration for boundary disputes
Events in the War of 1812:
Battle of New Orleans Jan. 8, 1815
A British fleet of more than 50 ships prepared to attack New Orleans.
General Jackson moved his army (7,000 militia) to New Orleans to help defend it.
News of the peace treaty hadn’t yet reached either side.
7,500 British attacked their position.
Jackson had fortified his position very well.
Fighting lasted half an hour.
British withdrew
U.S. victory
British casualties: about 2,000 (289 killed)
American casualties: 71 (31 killed)
Jackson became an American hero
Effects of the War of 1812
The British recognized US boundaries and left the
Northwest Territory.
The US gained national pride.
US industry increased due to the end of trade with
Britain.
The Federalist Party, which was against the war,
disappeared.
Weakened Native resistance
Essential Questions
What were the causes of the War of 1812
What were some of the major battles of the War
of 1812?
What were the results of the War of 1812
How do you think relations between the Native
American and the US will progress in the future?