1. The War of 1812
8th Grade US History

2. Table of Contents 1 Unit Objectives 2 Causes of the War of 1812 3
President James Madison 4
President Madison’s War Message 5
The Three Theaters of Operation 6
Major Battles of the War of 1812 7
How Did You Feel? 8
“And the Rockets Red Glare” 9
The Star Spangled Banner 10
Weapons Used in the War of 1812 11
Tecumseh 12
Andrew Jackson 13
The Battle of New Orleans 14
Dolley Madison 15
Review Questions

3. Unit Objectives Learn about the causes of the war
Learn about the key battles
Understand the importance of the flag and the star spangled banner
Learn about the key figures in the war
After learning about the war, predict the results of the war.

4. Question of American expansionism
The idea that one cause of the war was American expansionism or desire for Canadian land was much discussed among historians before 1940, but is rarely cited by experts any more. Some Canadian historians propounded the notion in the early 20th century, and it survives in Canadian mythology
Madison and his advisors believed that conquest of Canada would be easy and that economic coercion would force the British to come to terms by cutting off the food supply for their West Indies colonies. Furthermore, possession of Canada would be a valuable bargaining chip. Frontiersmen demanded the seizure of Canada not because they wanted the land (they had plenty), but because the British were thought to be arming the Indians and thereby blocking settlement of the west. As Horsman concludes, "The idea of conquering Canada had been present since at least 1807 as a means of forcing England to change her policy at sea. The conquest of Canada was primarily a means of waging war, not a reason for starting it.” Hickey flatly states, "The desire to annex Canada did not bring on the war." Brown (1964) concludes, "The purpose of the Canadian expedition was to serve negotiation not to annex Canada." Burt, a leading Canadian scholar, agrees completely, noting that Foster, the British minister to Washington, also rejected the argument that annexation of Canada was a war goal.
Numerous American exiles (United Empire Loyalists) and immigrants had settled in Upper Canada (Ontario). The Loyalists were hostile to reunion with the U.S., while the other settlers seem to have been disinterested. The Canadian colonies were thinly populated and only lightly defended by the British Army, and some Americans believed that the many in Upper Canada would rise up and greet an American invading army as liberators. The combination implied an easy conquest, as former president Thomas Jefferson suggested in 1812, "the acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us the experience for the attack on Halifax, the next and final expulsion of England from the American continent."
Violations of American rights
The long wars between Britain and France ( ) led to repeated complaints by the U.S. that both powers violated America's right as a neutral to trade with both sides. Furthermore Americans complained loudly that British agents in Canada were supplying munitions to hostile tribes living in American territory.
Starting in the mid 1790s the Royal Navy, short of manpower, began boarding American merchant ships in order to seize sailors from American vessels. Although this policy of impressment was supposed to reclaim only British subjects, Britain did not recognize naturalized American citizenship, often taking seamen who had been born British subjects but later issued American citizenship certificates. The British believed many of the certificates were invalid. In any case they needed sailors so between 1806 and 1812 about 6,000 seamen were impressed and taken against their will into the Royal Navy. The proposed Monroe-Pinkney Treaty (1806) between the U.S. and Britain was rejected by Jefferson and never ratified because it did not end impressment.
American economic motivations
The failure of Jefferson's embargo and Madison's economic coercion, according to Horsman, "made war or absolute submission to England the only alternatives, and the latter presented more terrors to the recent colonists. The war hawks came from the West and the South, regions that had supported economic warfare and were suffering the most from British restrictions at sea. The merchants of New England earned large profits from the wartime carrying trade, in spite of the numerous captures by both France and England, but the western and southern farmers, who looked longingly at the export market, were suffering a depression that made them demand war. [

5. President James Madison
Madison faced numerous problems throughout the war
A divided Cabinet
Incompetent generals
Militia who refused to fight outside their states
Lack of support
Threat of Secession of New England
Madison faced formidable obstacles--a divided cabinet, a factious party, a recalcitrant Congress, obstructionist governors, and amazingly incompetent generals, together with militia who refused to fight outside their states. Most serious was lack of unified popular support. There were serious threats of disunion from New England, which engaged in massive smuggling to Canada and refused to provide financial support or soldiers.[20] However Andrew Jackson in the South and William Henry Harrison in the West destroyed the main Indian threats by 1813.
After the apparent defeat of Napoleon in 1814, both the British and Americans were exhausted, the causes of the war had been forgotten, the Indian issue was resolved, and it was time for peace. New England Federalists, however, set up a defeatist Hartford Convention that discussed secession. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war in There were no territorial gains on either side as both sides returned to status quo ante bellum, that is, the previous boundaries. The Battle of New Orleans, in which Andrew Jackson defeated the British regulars, was fought fifteen days after the treaty was signed but before the news of the signing reached New Orleans.
With peace finally established, the U.S. was swept by a sense of euphoria and national achievement in finally securing solid independence from Britain. In Canada, the war and its conclusion represented a successful defense of the country, and a defining era in the formation of an independent national identity. This, coupled with ongoing suspicion of a U.S. desire to again invade the country, would culminate in creation of the Dominion of Canada in In the U.S., the Federalist Party collapsed and eventually disappeared from politics, as an Era of Good Feeling emerged with a much lower level of political fear and vituperation, although political contention certainly continued.

6. President Madison’s War Message
“British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great highway of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it, not in the exercise of a belligerent right founded on the law of nations against an enemy, but of a municipal prerogative over British subjects....Under pretended blockades, without the presence of an adequate force and sometimes without the practicability of applying one, our commerce has been plundered in every sea, the great staples of our country have been cut off from their legitimate markets, and a destructive blow aimed at our agricultural and maritime interests....
In reviewing the conduct of Great Britain toward the United States our attention is necessarily drawn to the warfare just renewed by the savages on one of our extensive frontiers--a warfare which is known to spare neither age nor sex and to be distinguished by features peculiarly shocking to humanity.”
After reading through the primary source statement of President Madison, have the students answer the questions, “Why did the United States declare war on Great Britain in 1812?”

7. The Three Theaters of Operation
In the Atlantic Ocean the British used the strategy of blockading important ports to keep the Americans from being able to trade with other countries. In return, American ships would harass British ships.
American leaders assumed that Canada would easily be overrun. Geography dictated that operations would take place in the west principally around Lake Erie, near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and near Saint Lawrence River area and Lake Champlain. This was the focus of the three pronged attacks by the Americans in the Canadian militia performed well in keeping the Americans from taking over any land. The Canadians view the War of 1812 as their victory.
In the Southern States the American militia fought against the Creek Indians and then Later in the Battle of New Orleans.

8. Major Battles in the War of 1812
US Declares war
Battle of Lake Erie
Hull Invades Canada
Creeks Attacked by Jackson
Essex Defeats Alert
Battle of Thames
Constitution Defeats Guerriere
Battle of Cryslers Farm
Battle of Queenston
Ft Niagara Captured
USS United States vs. HMS Macedonia
USS Constitution defeats three vessels
Battle of Raisin River
Battle of Horseshoe bend
Hornet vs. Peacock
USS Wasp Captures ten ships
York Captured
The Battle of Chippewa
Fort Meigs withstands Siege
Battle of Lundy’s Lane
Sacketts Harbor attacked
Washington Burned
Fort George Captured
Battle of Lake Champlain
USS Chesapeake vs. HMS Shannon
Battle of Baltimore
USS President defeats British vessels
Wasp vs. Bacchus
Fort Stephenson defeated
Creeks attack Fort Mims
USS Enterprise vs. HMS Boxer
Treaty of Ghent
Battle of New Orleans

9. How Did You Feel?
On September 11, 2001, terrorists targeted our country destroying important buildings and killing many.
What feelings do you have when you see these images and video?
Use this slide as an anticipatory set to talk about the bombardment at Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key writing the Star Spangled Banner.

10. “And the Rockets Red Glare”
Bombardment of Baltimore
The Flag survived the British bombardment of Fort McHenry.
Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship during the fight.
In the morning Key could easily see the flag still flying and wrote his feelings.
Tune of an old English drinking song.
The song became the national anthem on March 3, 1931.
Francis Scott Key
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
The Battle of Baltimore With Washington in ruins, the British next set their sights on Baltimore, then America’s third-largest city. Moving up the Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Patapsco River, they plotted a joint attack on Baltimore by land and water.  On the morning of September 12, General Ross’s troops landed at North Point, Maryland, and progressed towards the city. They soon encountered the American forward line, part of an extensive network of defenses established around Baltimore in anticipation of the British assault. During the skirmish with American troops, General Ross, so successful in the attack on Washington, was killed by a sharpshooter. Surprised by the strength of the American defenses, British forces camped on the battlefield and waited for nightfall on September 13, planning to attempt another attack under cover of darkness.
Meanwhile, Britain’s naval force, buoyed by its earlier successful attack on Alexandria, Virginia, was poised to strike Fort McHenry and enter Baltimore Harbor.  At 6:30 AM on September 13, 1814, Admiral Cochrane’s ships began a 25-hour bombardment of the fort. Rockets whistled through the air and burst into flame wherever they struck. Mortars fired 10- and 13-inch bombshells that exploded overhead in showers of fiery shrapnel.  Major Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry and its defending force of one thousand troops, ordered his men to return fire, but their guns couldn’t reach the enemy’s ships. When British ships advanced on the afternoon of the 13th, however, American gunners badly damaged them, forcing them to pull back out of range. All through the night, Armistead’s men continued to hold the fort, refusing to surrender. That night British attempts at a diversionary attack also failed, and by dawn they had given up hope of taking the city.  At 7:30 on the morning of September 14, Admiral Cochrane called an end to the bombardment, and the British fleet withdrew. The successful defense of Baltimore marked a turning point in the War of Three months later, on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent formally ended the war.
Because the British attack had coincided with a heavy rainstorm, Fort McHenry had flown its smaller storm flag throughout the battle. But at dawn, as the British began to retreat, Major Armistead ordered his men to lower the storm flag and replace it with the great garrison flag. As they raised the flag, the troops fired their guns and played “Yankee Doodle” in celebration of their victory. Waving proudly over the fort, the banner could be seen for miles around—as far away as a ship anchored eight miles down the river, where an American lawyer named Francis Scott Key had spent an anxious night watching and hoping for a sign that the city—and the nation—might be saved. 
The Inspiration of Francis Scott Key: From Poem to Anthem
Friends of Dr. Beanes asked Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key to join John S. Skinner, the U.S. government’s agent for dealing with British forces in the Chesapeake, and help secure the release of the civilian prisoner.  They were successful; however, the British feared that Key and Skinner would divulge their plans for attacking Baltimore, and so they detained the two men aboard a truce ship for the duration of the battle. Key thus became an eyewitness to the bombardment of Fort McHenry.
During the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” became one of the nation’s best-loved patriotic songs. It gained special significance during the Civil War, a time when many Americans turned to music to express their feelings for the flag and the ideals and values it represented. By the 1890s, the military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, requiring it to be played at the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1917, both the army and the navy designated the song the “national anthem” for ceremonial purposes. Meanwhile, patriotic organizations had launched a campaign to have Congress recognize “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the U.S. national anthem. After several decades of attempts, a bill making “The Star-Spangled Banner” our official national anthem was finally passed by Congress and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3,
The Star-Spangled Banner and the Smithsonian
At the death of Armistead’s widow in 1861, the Star-Spangled Banner was bequeathed to his daughter, Georgiana Armistead Appleton, who recognized that it held national as well as familial significance. As its owner, she permitted the flag to be publicly exhibited on several occasions. Eben Appleton, Armistead’s grandson, inherited the flag from his mother in Faced with the public’s increasing curiosity about the Star-Spangled Banner, he began to seek an appropriate repository. In 1907, Appleton lent the historic flag to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1912 he offered the flag as a permanent gift to the nation. He later wrote, “It is always such a satisfaction to me to feel that the flag is just where it is, in possession for all time of the very best custodian, where it is beautifully displayed and can be conveniently seen by so many people.” 

11. The Star Spangled Banner
Sewn by Mary Pickersgill
30 by 42 feet long
Each star is about 2 feet in diameter
Each stripe is 24 inches wide
Mary was paid $405.90
It began its display at Fort McHenry in 1813
British bomb ships hurled high trajectory bomb shells at the fort on September 14, 1814.
The flag is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC
“Guarding the entrance to Baltimore harbor via the Patapsco River during the War of 1812, Fort McHenry faced almost certain attack by British forces. Major George Armistead, the stronghold's commander, was ready to defend the fort, but he wanted a flag that would identify his position, and one whose size would be visible to the enemy from a distance. Determined to supply such a flag, a committee of high-ranking officers called on Mary Young Pickersgill, a Baltimore widow who had had experience making ship flags, and explained that they wanted a United States flag that measured 30 feet by 42 feet. She agreed to the job. With the help of her 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, Mrs. Pickersgill spent several weeks measuring, cutting, and sewing the 15 stars and stripes. When the time came to sew the elements of the flag together, they realized that their house was not large enough. Mrs. Pickersgill thus asked the owner of nearby Claggett's brewery for permission to assemble the flag on the building's floor during evening hours. He agreed, and the women worked by candlelight to finish it. Once completed, the flag was delivered to the committee, and Mrs. Pickersgill was paid $ In August 1813, it was presented to Major Armistead, but, as things turned out, more than a year would pass before hostile forces threatened Baltimore.
After capturing Washington, D.C., and burning some of its public buildings, the British headed for Baltimore. On the morning of September 13, 1814, British bomb ships began hurling high-trajectory shells toward Fort McHenry from positions beyond the reach of the fort's guns. The bombardment continued throughout the rainy night. “

12. Weapons used in the War of 1812
The Brown Bess
Mortar
This tomahawk was used between It had a functioning pipe bowl and a deadly blade. Most tomahawks were about fifty centimetres long. Most were made of iron with steel edges, but some like this one, were brass with a steel edge. Engraving and inlays of brass or silver were common on both blades and handles.
The weapon that you see here is a Brown Bess musket, which was used by British soldiers during the colonial wars. Unlike modern weapons, the musket was very slow to load, highly inaccurate and frequently unreliable. A well-trained soldier could prime, load and fire three times in one minute. This involved a 12 step process in order to fire just one shot. Also, these muskets did not fire bullets, as we know them in the modern sense, but fired round lead balls, some of which were the size of a quarter. At short ranges, these lead balls could inflict horrible damage on soldiers as they did not pierce a person's body but rather smashed against it. Aside from the fact that this weapon took 20 seconds to load (often under enemy fire) and that it was prone to frequent misfires, it was also inaccurate. It was possible to hit an opponent only if he was standing not more than 50 metres in front of you. Any further away, and the chances of hitting him were greatly reduced. It was often said that soldiers did not aim their weapons, instead they pointed them in a general direction and hoped for the best.
Gunboat
Native Weapons

13. Tecumseh Tecumseh sided with the British. Thought of as a prophet
Leader of Shawnee Indians
Killed in the Battle of the Thames
Honored in Canada as a war hero and commander
Tecumseh's Teachings
Tecumseh joined British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock to force the surrender of Detroit in August 1812, a major victory for the British. Tecumseh's acumen in warfare was evident in this engagement. As Brock advanced to a point just out of range of Detroit's guns, Tecumseh had his warriors parade out from a nearby wood and circle around to repeat the maneuver, making it appear that there were many more than was actually the case. The fort commander, Brigadier General William Hull, surrendered in fear of massacre should he refuse.
This victory was reversed a little over a year later, however, as Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie, late in the summer of 1813, cut British supply lines and prompted them to withdraw. The British burned the public buildings in Detroit and retreated into Upper Canada along the Thames Valley. Tecumseh followed, fighting rearguard actions to slow the US advance.
Death of Tecumseh
The next British commander, Major-General Henry Procter did not have the same working relationship with Tecumseh as his predecessor. Procter failed to appear at Chatham, Ontario as expected by the Native Americans. Harrison crossed into Upper Canada in October, 1813 and won a victory over the British and the Native Americans at the Battle of the Thames near Chatham. Shortly after, the tribes of his confederacy surrendered to Harrison at Detroit. Certain eye-witness sources state that Tecumseh was killed by Colonel Richard M. Johnson, future vice-president of the United States under Martin Van Buren, although it has not been proven. After Tecumseh was killed, no one ever found his body.

14. Andrew Jackson His nickname is Old Hickory
Commanded in the Campaign against the Creek Indians
He led his 4,000 militia to victory in the Battle of New Orleans against the British and their 12,000 troops in 1815
He became a war hero, which helped him later to be elected president
His victory in New Orleans led the Americans to believe they had won the war
Jackson became a colonel in the Tennessee militia, which he had led since the beginning of his military career in During the War of 1812, in 1813, Northern Creek Band chieftain Peter McQueen killed 400 men, women, and children in what became known as the Fort Mims Massacre (in what is now Alabama). Jackson commanded in the campaign against the Northern Creek Indians of Alabama and Georgia, also known as the "Red Sticks." Creek leaders such as William Weatherford (Red Eagle), Peter McQueen, and Menawa, who had been allies of the British during the War of 1812, violently clashed with other chiefs of the Creek Nation over white encroachment on Creek lands and the "civilizing" programs administered by U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins.
In the Creek War, a theatre of the War of 1812, Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Jackson was aided by members of the Southern Creek Indian Band, who had requested Jackson's aid in putting down what they considered to be the "rebellious" Red Sticks, and some Cherokee Indians, who also sided with the Americans. 800 Northern Creek Band "Red Sticks" Indians were massacred. Jackson spared Weatherford's life from any acts of vengeance. Sam Houston and David Crockett, later to become famous themselves in Texas, served under Jackson at this time. Following the victory, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both his Northern Creek enemy and Southern Creek allies, wresting 20 million acres (81,000 km²) from all Creeks for white settlement.
Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for its bravery and success. He was a strict officer, but was popular with his troops. It was said he was "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield, which gave him his nickname. The war, and particularly his command at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, made his national reputation. He advanced in rank to Major General. In the battle, Jackson's 4,000 militiamen and 16 heavy cannons behind barricades of cotton bales opposed 10,000 British regulars marching across an open field, led by General Edward Pakenham. The battle was a total American victory. The British had over 2,000 casualties to Jackson's 13 killed and 58 wounded or missing.

15. The Battle of New Orleans
Took place after the war was officially over
The British sent between 11,000 and 14,500 troops
The Americans had between 3,500 and 5,000 soldiers
The British had over 2,000 causalities
The Americans, led by Andrew Jackson, lost only 71 men
On January 8, 1815, the British retreated
In the early morning of January 8, Pakenham ordered a two pronged assault on the American position: one attacking the west flank across the Mississippi, and one directly against the main American line.
The attack began under a heavy fog, but as the British neared the main enemy line, the fog suddenly lifted, exposing them to withering artillery fire. The British, armed only with muskets effective at close range, tried to close the gap, but discovered that the ladders needed to cross a canal and scale the earthworks had been forgotten; it did not matter because the soldiers did not reach the canal. Most of the senior officers were killed or wounded, and the British infantry could do nothing but stand in the open and be mown down by a combination of musket fire and grapeshot from the Americans.
There were three large, direct assaults on the American positions, but all were repulsed. Pakenham was fatally wounded in the third attack, when he was hit by grapeshot on horseback while 500 yards from the earthworks. General John Lambert assumed command upon Pakenham's death and ordered a withdrawal.
At the main battle on January 8 the British suffered 2,037 casualties, (291 dead including the three senior generals, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured or missing). The Americans had 13 dead 39 wounded and 19 missing [1]. The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where a 700-man detachment attacked and overwhelmed the American line. But when they saw the defeat and withdrawal of their main army on the east bank, they decided to withdraw also, taking some American prisoners and a few cannon with them.
United States forces at the time of the battle were between 3,500 and 4,500. This force was composed of U.S. Army troops (Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana Militia), U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy sailors, Barataria Bay pirates, Choctaw Indian warriors, and free black soldiers. Major Gabriel Villeré commanded the Louisiana Militia, and Major Jean-Baptiste Plauché headed the New Orleans uniformed militia companies.

16. Dolley Madison One of the best known first ladies in American History
Her real name is Dorthea
She was widowed by her first husband in 1790
She married James Madison in He was 17 years older than she. They never had any children together.
When the White House was burned in 1814, she rescued an important portrait of George Washington.
In 1794, after returning to Philadelphia, her friend Aaron Burr, who was a frequent guest at the boarding house managed by Mary Payne, introduced her to James Madison.[6] On September 15, 1794, Dolley Todd married James Madison. The location of the wedding was a Virginia plantation owned by the bride's brother-in-law George Steptoe Washington, a nephew of the first president of the United States. The Madisons had no children but raised Dolley's son from her first marriage, John Payne Todd, whom they called Payne. Unfortunately, the child grew into a profligate young man addicted to gambling, a habit that resulted in his mother's eventual impoverishment.
During her husband's political life, Dolley Madison was noted as a gracious hostess, whose sassy, ebullient personality, love of feathered turbans, and passion for snuff (tobacco) seemed at odds with her Quaker upbringing. However, probably her most lasting achievement was her rescue of valuable treasures, including state papers and a Gilbert Stuart painting of President George Washington, from the White House before it was burned by the British army in 1814.

17. Review Questions Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner?
What are three causes of the war?
What was the name of the Indian Prophet?
What Battle took place after the war had been ended by the Treaty of Ghent?
Who saved a portrait of George Washington from being burned in the White House?
Francis Scott Key
American Expansionism, Violation of American Rights, American Economic Motivations.
Tecumseh
The Battle of New Orleans
Dolley Madison

18. References
Andrew Jackson. Wilkipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
Battle of New Orleans. Wilkipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
Dolley Madison. Wilkipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
Star-Spangled banner. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
Star-spangled banner and the war of Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
Tecumseh. Wilkipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
War of 1812: Interpreting primary sources. Digital history. Retrieved may 31, 2007 from
War of Wilkipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from
War of : Weapons of the war. Retrieved May 31, 2007 from