The War of 1812 (1812–1815) was a conflict fought between the United States and the United Kingdom and their respective allies. Historians in Britain often see it as a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars; however, in the United States and Canada, it is seen as a war in its own right.
Since the outbreak of war with Napoleonic France, Britain had enforced a naval blockade to choke off neutral trade to France, which the United States contested as illegal under international law. In order to man the blockade, Britain forcibly impressed American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy. The British were in turn outraged by the Little Belt Affair, which resulted in the deaths of 11 British sailors.[5][6] Moreover, British political support for a Native American buffer state, which conducted raids on American settlers on the frontier, hindered American expansion.[7] On June 18, 1812, President James Madison signed the American declaration of war into law.[8] The British government felt it had done everything in its power to try to avert the war and was therefore dismayed by the American declaration. Senior figures such as Lord Liverpool and Lord Castlereagh believed it to have been an opportunistic ploy by President Madison to annex Canada while Britain was fighting a war with France. The view was shared in much of New England, whose leaders bitterly disputed the numbers of US sailors the War Hawks claimed had been impressed by the British.
With the majority of its military deployed in Europe to fight Napoleon, the British adopted a defensive strategy, though the war's first engagement was an ill-fated assault on Sacket's Harbor, New York. American prosecution of the war effort suffered from its unpopularity, especially in New England, where it was derogatorily referred to as "Mr. Madison's War". American defeats at Detroit and Queenston thwarted attempts to seize Upper Canada, improving British morale.[9][10]American attempts to invade Montreal also failed. In 1813, the Americans won control of Lake Erie and shattered Tecumseh's Confederacy, securing a primary war goal.[11] At sea, the powerful Royal Navy blockaded the American coast, allowing them to strike American trade at will. In 1814, one of these raids burned the capital, Washington. The Americans subsequently repulsed British attempts to invade the north and mid-Atlantic states.
At home, the British faced mounting opposition to wartime taxation, and demands to reopen trade with America. With the abdication of Napoleon, the maintenance of the blockade of France, as well as the issue of the impressment of American sailors, were nullified. Peace negotiations began in August 1814, and the Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24 later that year. However, news of the peace would not reach America for some time. Unaware that the treaty had been signed, British forces launched an invasion of Louisiana, which was decisively defeated in January 1815.[12] The battle was seen to have restored American honour after a mediocre war effort, and led to the collapse of anti-war sentiment. News of the treaty arrived shortly thereafter, halting military operations. The treaty was unanimously ratified by the United States on February 17, 1815, ending the war with no boundary changes.
