War of 1812

The War of 1812 is also known as the second battle for independence from Britain. There were several reasons why America declared war on them, there were many important battles, and it had many immediate effects on the United States. One cause of the war was because of British impressment of U.S. sailors. Other causes were the U.S. wanting to invade Canada, the Embargo Act, and because the U.S. believed the British were supplying Native Americans with weapons to fight white settlers. The war consisted of four battles because of British invasions and attacks. There were changes in how it was for the United States militarily, economically, and politically before and after the war.

One cause of the war was British impressment of U.S. sailors. When American ships were going to trade with France, British ships came to seize American ships and also took American sailors to join their navy. Britain needed sailors to join their navy so they could fight against their war with France. American sailors had no choice but to die or join the navy so they were forced into harsh conditions on the warships. The U.S. needed to go to war with Britain because they were taking their sailors and were disrespecting the U.S.’s neutrality in the Britain and France war. Another cause of the war was the Embargo Act of 1807. This act forbids trade with any foreign nation. Thomas Jefferson was hoping that this act would cause Britain and France to stop attacking U.S. ships. However, the Embargo Act hurt the U.S. more than it did Britain or France because sales declined from $109 million to $25 million. Also, thousands of Americans lost their jobs and people started smuggling goods. Later on, the act was repealed but trade with Britain or France was still forbidden. This was a cause of the war because the U.S. was still loosing a lot of money by not trading with Britain and France and they still did not respect the U.S.’s neutrality. Many Americans also believed that Britain