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What Caused The War Of 1812 Dbq

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There were many reasons for the War of 1812, impressment, maritime rights’, even upholding national honor, but it was most definitely not a war driven by power hunger or lack thereof. It was a war that honestly, did not really need to ever occur. Although Madison did not want to resort to war, like his predecessor Thomas Jefferson, he still reluctantly did so on June 1, 1812. Britain was in the middle of a war with France already before issues with America even began. Consequently, the war between Britain and France put America in the middle of a shipping war (1807). France did not want America giving its goods to Britain and vice versa, and Britain, in particular, was seizing American ships taking U.S. sailors to serve in their Royal Navy. …show more content…

He ordered that all British warships out of U.S. ports (July 12, 1807), but most thought that was too lenient and he would pay for it, politically, later. Congress went ahead and put into motion the Embargo Act, which would stop all American exports as well as prohibiting American ships from going to foreign ports. However, all the Embargo Act did was upset Americans while ruining their trade and give Britain exceedingly better trade circumstances than before. Jefferson’s presidency was decidedly over because of this act, and Americas thirst for war to restore their maritime rights was still present, even …show more content…

Madison tiredly tried to find ways to get trade up and running again, but all of the strategies failed much like Jefferson’s Embargo. After the failures, Madison received a Cadore letter, which stated that Napoleon had repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees, but it also said that would only happen if the British did the same. In a desperate attempt to intimidate the British he went along with it, but the British were not seeming to back down and so Madison, though opposed to the idea, gave congress the order to declare war (June 1, 1812). He did so to retake America’s rights to trade freely and stop the impressment of U.S. sailors, it was not about power, but about freedom and rights. After voting for the war won, the British were having an economic crisis and were not in any state to go to war while already in one with Napoleon. Because of this, the British Prime Minister re-opened trade with U.S. ports (June 16, 1812). The news did not get to Madison in time though and he had already signed the declaration of war (June 18, 1812). In Conclusion, the war of 1812 America did not gain or lose power during this war, but they did gain respect and were set on a path to economic independence with less foreign dependence. The war could have been completely avoided had Madison just waited

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