This picture shows the American army battling the British during the War of 1812. The British were finally defeated, a victory for the Americans which boosted pride, and made our infant country feel more powerful, because they defeated the greatest superpower in the world, at the time.
War of 1812
How did the war of 1812 transform the nation?
The War of 1812 was a war with Britain that started in 1812, obviously, during James Madison's presidency, and lasted 3 years. James Madison was only the 4th president, so he did not really want to fight another war, so soon after the Revolution. But a new generation of leaders, such as Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson, did not know the horrors of war; they were young when the Revolutionary War took place. These men, called "war hawks", encouraged Madison to go to war with Great Britain, and he finally caved. Madison had 3 main reasons for going to war:
1) The British kept capturing American ships, then forcing the sailors to work on the British ships. (This was called impressment.)
2) British would not leave the Northwest Territory, which had belong to the U.S. since they Treaty of Paris was signed at the end of the Revolutionary War.
3) Many Americans wanted the land the Native Americans owned.
Great Britain was fighting two different countries during the War of 1812, America and France. Napoleon finally lost, so Britain could focus more troops over to the U.S. They marched in and burned the Capitol building, and even the president's house! The British planned to take Baltimore, by sea, but the Americans made a blockade with sunken ships along the coast, near Fort McHenry. That night Britain's army's plan was failed, and the Americans won. The British used mainly bombs to try to take down America's flag, which would signal surrender if it fell to the ground. Soldiers held it up until morning, when the British were defeated. That was the night Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem.
The battle that was considered the first battle of the War of 1812 is the Battle of Tippecanoe, between Tecumseh's brother, The Prophet and William Henry Harrison's army, which took place in November 1812. The last battle of the War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans, in which the victorious American army was led by Andrew Jackson.
For more information on the battles: http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/timeline/
1) The British kept capturing American ships, then forcing the sailors to work on the British ships. (This was called impressment.)
2) British would not leave the Northwest Territory, which had belong to the U.S. since they Treaty of Paris was signed at the end of the Revolutionary War.
3) Many Americans wanted the land the Native Americans owned.
Great Britain was fighting two different countries during the War of 1812, America and France. Napoleon finally lost, so Britain could focus more troops over to the U.S. They marched in and burned the Capitol building, and even the president's house! The British planned to take Baltimore, by sea, but the Americans made a blockade with sunken ships along the coast, near Fort McHenry. That night Britain's army's plan was failed, and the Americans won. The British used mainly bombs to try to take down America's flag, which would signal surrender if it fell to the ground. Soldiers held it up until morning, when the British were defeated. That was the night Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem.
The battle that was considered the first battle of the War of 1812 is the Battle of Tippecanoe, between Tecumseh's brother, The Prophet and William Henry Harrison's army, which took place in November 1812. The last battle of the War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans, in which the victorious American army was led by Andrew Jackson.
For more information on the battles: http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/timeline/
The War of 1812 transformed the nation by boosting America's moral and establishing America as an actual country that was a force to be reckoned with.
For more information: http://www.history.com/topics/war-of-1812 and http://warof1812.thinkport.org/#home.html