Could the war of 1812 been avoided. The War of 1812 Could Have Been Avoided 2022-10-03
Could the war of 1812 been avoided Rating:
5,8/10
738
reviews
The War of 1812, fought between the United States and Great Britain, was a complex conflict with numerous causes and contributing factors. While it is difficult to say with certainty whether the war could have been avoided altogether, it is possible to examine the various events and decisions that led to the outbreak of hostilities and consider whether alternative actions might have prevented the conflict.
One of the primary causes of the War of 1812 was the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and Great Britain. The British, who were engaged in a long-running conflict with France, imposed various restrictions on American trade in an effort to cut off supplies to their enemy. These measures, which included the impressment of American sailors into the British navy, were deeply unpopular in the United States and contributed to a sense of grievance among the American people.
Another significant factor was the British support for Native American tribes in their resistance to American expansion. The British provided weapons and other assistance to Native American groups, who in turn launched attacks on American settlers in the West. This helped to fuel tensions between the United States and Great Britain and contributed to the sense of hostility between the two countries.
It is possible that the War of 1812 could have been avoided if the United States and Great Britain had been able to come to an agreement on trade and other issues that were causing tensions between the two countries. For example, the United States might have agreed to certain trade concessions in exchange for an end to the impressment of American sailors and the support of Native American groups. Alternatively, the United States might have sought to resolve these issues through diplomacy rather than resorting to military action.
However, it is also important to consider the broader context in which the War of 1812 took place. The United States was a young and rapidly expanding country, and there were many forces at work that made it difficult to avoid conflict. The British were deeply concerned about the potential for American expansion, and their actions were motivated in part by a desire to protect their own interests. Additionally, the United States was experiencing significant internal tensions and divisions, which made it difficult to achieve a consensus on how to address the issues with Great Britain.
In the end, it is difficult to say whether the War of 1812 could have been avoided. There were many complex and interconnected factors that contributed to the outbreak of hostilities, and it is possible that even the best efforts at diplomacy might not have been sufficient to prevent the conflict. However, it is important to remember that war is always a last resort and that every effort should be made to avoid it whenever possible.
Was Madison Right? Could War Have Been Avoided?
Should war always be avoided? The reverse was true as well. This was captured by British and Canadian forces in December of 1813 and held until the end of the war, Mackinac Island was captured early in 1812, also - a large area west of Lake Michigan, and on the west coast - Fort Astoria at mouth of the Columbia River occupied by NW company from Montreal. The idea of attacking Canada was particularly loathsome. The smear campaign began before the war began. According to the historian J.
London came to view the war as either unwinnable or too costly to continue. Regarding purported stolen territory, Spain had far more issues against the UK than the US; sin fact, some of the former were actually centuries-long and far more critical for Spain; just remember Gibraltar BTW, still unsettled nowadays among myriad more examples. They died so fast that coffin makers and grave diggers could not keep up. Before the battle, Tecumseh reportedly rode in front of the British line of soldiers, shaking hands with each man. Which angered the U. The First Nations who later allied with the British remained uncommitted at the outset of the war.
That, of course, is exactly what Napoleon did in 1803, and why Spain and Great Britain deemed the Louisiana Purchase illegal. In reality, different parties had different interests and their views changed over time in response to new developments. The burning of Washington on August 24, 1814, gave the British delegation an edge in negotiations, but subsequent American defensive victories at Baltimore and Plattsburg negated that edge. One must also consider that as "Father of the Constitution", Madison was keenly aware of the roles allowed for the armed forces of the USA and conquest was not one of them. The Madison administration was ill-prepared for an invasion, believing that this city of 8,000 people was of little military value and would be left alone.
A few hundred Potawatomis led by Black Bird attacked a column of military and civilian personnel, killing sixty-eight, including a number of women and children. Britian ingnored this demand. The fact that Spain and Britain were forced to fight together with virtually all Europe against the common threat of Napoleon didn't make them partners by any measure. In Federalist eyes, America was fighting against her true long-range interests. The two parties agreed to the principle of the status quo ante bellum— each side retaining the lands it held before the war. .
The War of 1812 Could Have Been Avoided Essay Example
British policies that led to the war were a direct outgrowth of the Napoleonic Wars and would cease when that war ended. Both governments could have negotiated an acceptable compromise on definitions of citizenship, as thousands of British-born immigrants to the U. Either Britain would have to be soundly defeated in Canada, or she would have to be desperately engaged in Europe. Such was the devastation on both sides of the river that Canadians and Americans living there probably suffered more from this war than people living anywhere else. In the end it is complicated and there are multiple aspects to it.
Could The Civil War Have Been Avoided Or Was It Inevitable?
The blockade was gradually extended and tightened. Especially given the fact that little could be settled by war, and both sides knew that even as they began to fight in this conflict. Donald Hickey's, The War of 1812: A forgotten conflict, 1989, is generally considered one of the most balanced and thorough accounts among modern historians. Prisoners were sometimes killed — and scalped — and defenseless towns were sometimes burned. One of whom, Julius Pratt, in his Expansionists of 1812, 1925 makes this issue as extremely important. .
In terms of the lives lost, I expect that the improved trade relations - and therefore economic standings - of the three countries probably lowered mortality rates to some degree and therefore likely saved quite a few lives as well. The American colonies had the high belief that they were not susceptible to gaining enough power to control. The president at the time Madison demanded that britain revoke the oder in the council that declared american commercial vessels subject to interception and seizure. He was not a dumb man by any account so why would he tempt the wrath of the most powerful empire in the world??? So, I would still say yes to the question of the OP, the war could have been avoided. What was one negative aspect of post Civil war? Foreign Relations since 1776 New York: Oxford University Press, 2008 , p. Did we, at one point, think to expand our territory into Canada? Should war be accepted as a legitimate method for pursuing national economic and political goals, such as territorial and trade expansion? Nonetheless, the narrow standard of self-defense is arguably the most appropriate, as it conforms to both domestic legal principles and modern international law, which ban aggression but allow for self-defense.
The War of Could Have Been Avoided, Sample of Essays
In 1804 twelve ships of the Royal Navy were detained at Norfolk, Virginia, because of deserters, some of whom paraded the streets cursing their officers and thumbing noses at them. In this regard, as American Historian John Eisenhower says, this was Americas first Vietnam. Stagg: In all, as many as 3,500 warriors may have been killed on the northwestern and southwestern frontiers of the United States and possibly another 10,000 Indian men, women, and children could have died as a result of the war-related diseases and starvation that were always more regular features of Indian life than they were for Americans or Canadians. In the table below, House and Senate votes are combined for each state: State Number of votes Votes for war Percentage for war Connecticut 9 0 0% Rhode Island 4 0 0% Delaware 3 0 0% New York 16 4 25% New Jersey 8 3 38% Massachusetts 16 7 44% Ohio 2 1 50% New Hampshire 7 4 57% Maryland 11 7 63% North Carolina 11 8 72% Virginia 21 16 76% Vermont 5 4 80% Pennsylvania 20 18 80% Kentucky 7 6 86% Tennessee 5 5 100% Georgia 5 5 100% South Carolina 10 10 100% TOTAL 160 98 61% Governor Caleb Strong Two weeks after the U. The American assault on York, the capital of Upper Canada, on April 27, 1813, is particularly remembered, its memorabilia on display at the Fort York museum in Toronto: The outnumbered defenders fought for six hours before retreating east to Kingston.
Army had about 13,000 soldiers and officers at the outset of the war, while the British maintained about 7,000 regulars in Canada, including 1,600 in Upper Canada. The spirit of the congress of Vienna was fundamentally reaching a long-term balance between the European powers by returning to the universal pre-bellic status quo as much as possible and by restricting the retributions to a minimum. On July 3, U. The British then marched into Washington unopposed, arriving about 8:00 p. The Weight of Vengeance, pp. IMHO, the expansionism viewpoint has lost preference mainly due to an obvious PR bias; Canada + UK on one hand and the US in the other are enemies no longer, but the closest possible partners; therefore, unlikely as the following explanation may seem, it's always safer to depict the uncomfortable War of 1812 as the purported product of a fairly balanced and almost honest long series of unfortunate blunders from both sides. But construction of reassuring myths in the immediate aftermath helped transform a futile and humiliating adventure that aimed to conquer Canada into one of defending the republic.
