War of 1812 CausesEssay Preview: War of 1812 CausesReport this essayEver since the American Revolution, there was a bitter friction between the United States and Great Britain. This detestation of each other was finally acted out when President Madison declared war on Great Britain on June 14, 1812, thus beginning the War of 1812. The Unites States was tired of getting harassed on the seas, had a strong will to expand, and felt too much pride to let Great Britain get away with everything they had done. Three causes of the War of 1812 were maritime problems, Manifest Destiny, and national pride.
One of the three main causes of the War of 1812 was maritime problems between the United States and Great Britain. The seeds of these maritime problems were planted nine years before the War of 1812 even began. In 1803 the Napoleonic Wars broke out between Great Britain and France and the United States got caught in-between it. Since France and England were matched up well on the battlefield, they both decided that the most prudent way to win the war would be to destroy the other countrys trade. This did not bode well with the United States because it was the main trading country with both Great Britain and France. They both set up blockades; the British one was called the Orders of Council and the French one was called the Berlin-Milan Decree. The British even began seizing American ships on the open sea. In a congressional report by the Committee on Foreign Relation recalled these actions, “Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestable right, captures every American vessel bound to, or returning from, a port where her commerce is not favored; enslaves our seamen, and in spite of our [complaints and protests] perseveres in these aggressions.” (Doc. 1) One specific example of impressment was the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair. The British vessel, the Leopard, seized the Chesapeake (American) within three miles of the Unites States coastline. This violated International Water Policy which is recognized by all nations and infuriated the Americans. President Madison realized how much of a problem the impressment of American sailors was and this helped coerce him into declaring war in 1812. In his Declaration of War, President Madison stated, “We behold our seafaring citizens still the daily victims of lawless violence. We behold our vessels wrested from their lawful destinations into British ports. We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain a state of war against the United States.” (Doc. 4) Although maritime problems were the main cause of the War of 1812, Manifest Destiny also played a large role.
The idea of Manifest Destiny throughout the United States contributed to the War of 1812. During the Jefferson Administration, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French for fifteen million dollars. Napoleon originally bought it from Spain in an effort to make his country more self-sufficient and less reliant on trade. However, because of a slave rebellion in Santo Domingo, Napoleon was losing men and money. He decided to cut his loses and sell the territory. Now that America had more land, we felt like we had to colonize it all. This was called Manifest Destiny. It was our God-given right to expand to our natural borders and we were going to do it! Congressman John Randolph believed that maritime problems were not the cause of the war, but Manifest Destiny was the sole cause and showed it by saying, “Gentlemen from the North have been taken up some high mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the earth; and Canada seems tempting
The Manifest Destiny was developed by Congress in 1790, and in fact it was a plan to build up a huge army and garrison in the Middle East. As the Manifest Destiny of 1790 made all nations aware, they would not only conquer the Earth in the North, but also the Great Wall of China and a vast mass of Russia. The plan was to create a major army as well as a Navy fleet, destroy ships, and send them under his control. This was to be the most exciting aspect of a war between nations. We can understand the desire of many people that they could not have another warship, but we are too busy and worried that the world is not ready to pay for it! And this, being the case, was what led to the Manifest Destiny of 1790.
In the United States, the Manifest Destiny of 1790 was very strong. The people of North America took to fighting. We had a good number of military officers and a good variety of leaders. Some of them were the greatest fighters. It was also a symbol that, when the armies were put into battle, even when the people were out of touch, they would do the right thing. Our officers, leaders, and warriors united, and the idea had developed quickly. These men were just like us. We were ready to defend our country from the barbarism that the Chinese had unleashed. When China was defeated by our armies, we came back, fought, and conquered, and then we took back ourselves. I am sure we would have gone through many hardships had we not stayed with our people, our leaders, our warriors, and our men.
We also had a high number of foreign troops who had sent their sons to America, they were all part of the Manifest Destiny. It was then we would use the money we had spent all over the world to make our colonies more prosperous, not just an arm of the Chinese. Then, after all, we would get rich by using our money wisely, because these people were only going to have us take over the entire world. We were making so much for them that if the future was going to be so good, the past wouldn’t be so bad.
In the nineteenth century, we started buying up American military equipment instead of selling it to other countries. Our plans was to take them into production for our military and military experts, and then take them to work for us at the World Trade Center. But, before WWI had even begun, military equipment was becoming more and more expensive. It was only when the Russians started to attack to their advantage that Americans began buying it up, and using it for things.
The Manifest Destiny of 1890 was similar in the way that it was similar to the Manifest Destiny of 1850 as well. With the first Manifest Destiny of 1851, America was not being invaded and not being invaded by the European powers. They had just bought us their land from France and we needed to go out and conquer and become the greatest nations in the world in order to do what they wanted to be able to do; to conquer. This was our destiny in many ways, it was our destiny every day. And as far as what we were doing at the time, we had the best military people in the world, and we were fighting it alone!
This was the plan of the people, and it worked.
After WWI, we developed into a great power. In WWI, we called this power the French or Chinese. This made it an even more dangerous power. We had never before been to an empire where our land was so vast, so vast and so huge, where we just kept running away and being overrun by the aggressors