1. Unit 8: The Louisiana Purchase & The War of 1812
Lesson 5: The War of 1812

2. The U.S. entered the War of 1812 at a huge disadvantage
The military was weak & unprepared
The regular army had a small force of soldiers led by inexperienced officers
It had to depend on help from state militias

3. Because the U.S. had less than 20 ships to face the powerful British navy, they paid privateers to fight
Privateers:
armed ships owned by individuals
 Weird houseboat

4. but they captured more than 1,300 British merchant ships
The privateers couldn’t stand up to the British warships,
but they captured more than 1,300 British merchant ships
In turn, the British blockaded the U.S. coast, stopping American shipping
Another kind of blockade 

5. Trying to get Canada
One major goal of the war was to gain control of Canada, which was England’s last holding in North America

6. The first plan to conquer Canada involved a three-way invasion from
Detroit, Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario, & Lake Champlain

7. much of the Northwest Territory (Great Lakes region)
All 3 invasions failed
On top of that, the U.S. suffered many defeats in the West
As a result, the British had control of
much of the Northwest Territory (Great Lakes region)

8. At sea, the small American navy & privateers were no match for the British navy,
but a few individual ships made names for themselves

9. The Constitution won a major battle against the British ship Guerriere
Its crew called the Constitution “Old Ironsides” because its oak hull resisted British guns

10. Things start looking up for the Americans
In April 1813, the U.S. captured Upper Canada’s capital city of York (present-day Toronto)
While there, they burned some official buildings

11. A few months later, a fleet of 10 small American ships
attacked & defeated British warships on Lake Erie

12. Why were these victories on the Great Lakes important?
1) The Lake Erie victory forced the British to leave Detroit
2) It won back U.S. control of Michigan
3) It gave Americans a much-needed boost in spirits

13. Time for another invasion of Canada
In October 1813, General William Henry Harrison led about 3,500 soldiers across Lake Erie in pursuit of
the British forces fleeing from Detroit

14. This pursuit led to the Battle of the Thames River
In this battle, the 3,500 American troops defeated the smaller force of about 600 British & 1,000 Native Americans

15. Shoot! Just when everything was looking up for the Americans,
England sent a ton more troops to the U.S.
Where did these troops come from?
They had been fighting Napoleon in Europe, & finally defeated him in the spring of 1814

16. The newcomers included thousands of England’s best troops
While fighting continued in the Great Lakes area, another British army arrived in the Chesapeake Bay

17. Washington D.C. only had about 1,000 badly equipped Americans defending it
When 6,000 British troops approached, President Madison & his cabinet fled to avoid being captured

18. As payback for the burning of the British capital York,
the British set Washington on fire
Among other buildings, the fire gutted the Capitol building & the White House

19. The British thought that, with the burning of Washington, they had won the war
In early September, they moved on to attack Baltimore Harbor

20. Much to the British troops’ surprise, though, the American troops stationed in Baltimore
eventually forced the British to retreat

21. So the British hadn’t won yet
In late 1814, they planned to invade the U.S.
from the south at New Orleans
Lucky for us, General Andrew Jackson & his backwoods sharpshooters were ready for them

22. The Battle of New Orleans
On January 8, 1815, the sharpshooters hid behind bales of cotton
Their guns were aimed at
the 8,000 British soldiers sent to capture the city

23. In the battle, over 2,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded,
compared to the Americans’ 20 casualties

24. Interestingly,
neither side knew that the Battle of New Orleans wasn’t necessary
Because communications were slow, they were unaware that more than 2 weeks earlier,
the U.S. & England had signed a peace treaty in Ghent, Belgium

25. The Treaty of Ghent
It was signed on Christmas Eve of 1814 & ended the fighting,
but actually settled nothing
Why, again, had the U.S. gone to war with England?

26. The treaty didn’t deal with leaving neutral American ships alone,
and neither side gained or lost any territory

27. So was there anything good about the War of 1812?
It made many Americans feel proud & self-confident
They had gained new respect from other countries, and felt a new sense of nationalism:
loyalty to one’s own country