By now you probably realize the American victory over the British in the War for Independence did not really change America's situation that significantly. Yes, we established the principle of self-government and wrote the now legendary Constitution, but other than that....
Britain (and France) were still major thorns in our side. We got little respect on the world stage or in our own territories. The natives were being supplied with weapons and encouraged to fight any and all western settlers and settlements. We were in rough shape financially, and the Jefferson Embargo had hurt us even worse. The natives, as the saying goes, were growing restless. Something had to change.
So...let's fight! Madison asked Congress to declare war against England in the summer of 1812. Unfortunately for him, the British Parliament had decided to stop impressing our ships and sailors (which was one of the major reasons we were declaring war) but by the time we got the news that England had changed her mind it was too late.
Please visit this website and read the nine essays (be sure to click the blue "continue" link so you get the whole story) to gain insight into what different groups of people were thinking about the war. In the comments section, discuss which essay you thought was the most interesting and why.
I thought the black soldiers and sailors in the war of 1812 was very interesting. Charles Ball, which is a slave that escaped, he had a choice to go with the British or go serve in the Navy. He thought he was a free man . Some people did not like blacks on their ship. Commodore Isaac Chauncey replied, “I have nearly fifty blacks on this boat and many of them are among the best of my men.” Black slaves were fighting hard on both sides of the playing field. Ball had a choice of either choice of either entering into His Majesty's Forces, or of being sent as free settlers to British possessions. At the end of the war you were suppose to turn back the ex-slaves, but Britain said no. The British said that once the set a foot on soil they are free. The reason this one was so interesting to me is a really like to see how the slaves fight through everything, I mean this are some hard decisions to make.
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I thought that the essay about the naval battles in the War of 1812 was very interesting. I thought that it was very cool to see the disadvantage we were in period, but especially in the navy. They outnumbered our navy 28 to 1, but we still held up most of the time. In the battle of Lake Erie we lost a ship but came through and won the battle after defeating four ships at once. Our best ship the USS Constitution commanded by Isaac Hull went on to defeat many British ships. The British obviously outnumber The United States, but we sure put up a really good fight in the naval battles.(113)
ReplyDeleteI thought that the essay about the Canadian's thoughts on the war was very interesting. Most of the time, we only think about the French, British, and Americans when we think about war in this time. It was very cool to see how the Canadians got involved in the whole situation and how they acted to all the countries. Plus, Canada just seems like an interesting country! This essay was probably my favorite to compare and contrast to the other articles. I liked learning about how the Canadians thought this was an unnecessary war and that they thought it was pointless. I loved seeing how other countries put their opinions out there. (112)
ReplyDeleteThe perspective that interested me the most was the perspective of the British. At this time they were fighting a war with the French Empire so the War if 1812 was kind of a secondary war that they were fighting because they had the money and the resources to do it. In the end, Britain withdrew from the war leaving America the “victors” even thought they had been dominated by the British until that point. The only legitimate win for the Americans was at the Battle of New Orleans which was fought after the peace treaty had been signed! In the end it was a dumb war for Britain to get into and they paid the consequences with their casualties and money lost from it.(125)
ReplyDeleteI thought the Canadian’s perspective was the most interesting, and here’s why. When you think about an American war, you never think about how it affected places other than here besides the country(ies) we’re up against. The general thoughts were very interesting, even the first line, saying, “the people of the Canadian colonies were united in the belief that this was an unwanted war, governed more by the distant preoccupations of London or Washington than the needs and wishes of the King’s subjects in North America.” This was an important war to the Canadians. It brought them an identity and nationhood. I watched the video as well because I was, to be honest, quite shocked that the Canadians were involved. It makes sense, they are directly above us. I just never really thought about it.
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THIS WAS AN OBSCURE BUT IMPORTANT CONFLICT. AVERAGE AMERICANS KNOW LITTLE OF THE WAR OR IT’S IMPACT, EXCEPT THE “STAR-SPANGLED BANNER”, THE BURNING OF THE NATION’S CAPITAL, OR THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
ReplyDeleteONE REASON THE WAR WAS OBSCURE IS NO GREAT PRESIDENT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONFLICT. ANOTHER REASON IS THAT THE CAUSES ARE MISUNDERSTOOD. MOST SCHOLARS AGREE IT WAS OVER MARITIME ISSUES SUCH AS THE BRITISH TAKING OUR SAILORS FROM SHIPS.
THE CANADIANS DIDN’T LIKE IT BECAUSE AMERICA INVADED THEIR COUNTRY.
WE WON SEVERAL BATTLES THAT DETERMINED THE OUTCOME OF THE WAR. ALL IN ALL , EVEN THOUGH SOMEWHAT OBSCURE, THE OUTCOME HELP DETERMINE THE STRENGTH OF A BEGINNING NATION.
To me, the most interesting of the articles was the one on military medicines at the time of the War of 1812. The part at the beginning completely grossed me out but it got me reading, why I don't know. It said something about how when a soldier had an open wound sometimes a bug or insect would lay eggs in it and there would be little maggots in it within hours. Yuck! So anyways, 3/4 of soldiers fighting for America died of something other than battle wounds. Think about this for a second: there was no such thing as anesthesia! So when they had to amputate something because of a wound or infection... yeah. ouch. Now that I think about it I don't know why this was my favorite article. (126)
ReplyDeleteI thought the most interesting essay was the one about the medicine. Who would have thought that in war back then, most deaths came from diseases not gunshot wounds? If you did not get shot in a limb, then you would probably die. If you did get shot in a limb then you would either die or have to get in amputated. Neither sound fun. And back then they do not numb it or put you to sleep so you have to lay there in the pain. That would suck! Since they did not have a lot of medicine, then you would die from just something that would barely even cause problems today. (114)
ReplyDeleteokay, i thought the medicine article or essay was the most interesting. knowing that it was more rare to die from gun shot or a would rather than disease was pretty interesting. i thought that the gun shot or the wounds would be number one. i also thought that they would have made some medicine that would help with amputation. i guess not! today they have made medicine that helps with everything. back then not having medicine really hurt probably. i guess that the more you have to deal with sickness the less time you have to make things. which is really disappointing. (103)
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting article to me was the one that talked about military medicine. I thought it was strange that they did not have any medicine to help with and type of amputation. I would think that because they were fighting in wars, that they would have found time to come up with something. I can't imagine how much pain they would be in! We still experience some pain, even when we have taken pain medicine already. I also found it interesting that mere people died from illnesses than from wounds. But I sure am glad we have medicines to heal people today!(103)
ReplyDeleteI thought that the military medicine was interesting because of how they did things back then vs. how they do things now. They lacked so many things in medicine that are very important today like anesthesia. The main cause of deaths during the war wasn’t from battle wounds, but from infection and germs. I liked the part about the amputations most because it was just insane compared to today. If someone was shot anywhere other than their limbs, they would surely die. If a limb was shot, they get a chance at surviving, it had to be amputated. Like I said before, they had no anesthesia. So, men would drink a lot before they got it amputated so they could try to deal with the pain when it happened. But, that was the only way they would have survived, so it had to be done. (144)
ReplyDeleteThe lives and journals of the women are the most interesting to me. Everyone today tries to inform us on the blacks’ past but information on women is lacking. It seems what little information we have on women was written by the well-educated. The article on Ann Prevost shows how her attitude was negative toward Yankees and full of pride for her father. She was doing “French lessons” when the news of the war arrived. Dolly Madison was the First Lady which makes her accounts viewed from an educated person’s perspective. Why don’t we know more about the plight of ordinary women? The essay on John Norton tells how his mixed background (Scottish and Cherokee) aided him in the war. Think how his mother (Scottish) raised him so he would know about both cultures. What did she endure? What influences did she have on Norton to make him desert the British in Canada and eventually become an interpreter for the Native Americans. His full accounts on the major battles in the War of 1812 had to reflect on his upbringing.
ReplyDeletethe article i found most interesting was the Black Soldier and Sailors in the war of 1812. this article repeatedly talked about someone named Charles Ball. Charles Ball was a free black man at this time, which meant he had a choice. Charles could fight for the British fight for his country or not fight at all. He chose to fight for his country. i liked that; i think it shows the passion people had for america. one of the other reasons i thought that this article was interesting was because while he and many other black men were on the ship fighting they were dealing with discrimination. honestly i think that's pathetic; hello? YOUR FIGHTING FOR THE SAME THING! 119
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