Analytical Essay

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The 1812 war
Introduction and Background information
The 1812 war was a military war fought by the United States of America. The United States of America fought against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Also joined in the war were the North American colonies as well as the Native American allies. This war lasted for about two and a half years. The war was declared by the United States on June 18, 1812. The 1812 war took place in three major theatres. The first one happened at the sea; here the warships and privateers were used to attack the rivalling side. The second one happened on the land; this took place in on the US-Canadian frontier. This frontier ran along the Great Lakes, the northern end of Lake Champlain and the Saint Lawrence River. The third one happened in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast, where big land battles took place. (Roosevelt 277) This war finally led to the signing of the famous “Treaty of Ghent”; both sides returned the occupied lands to their pre-war owners, after which they resumed friendly trade relations. This essay discusses; the reasons why the US declared the war, how it changed America, as well as the long-term results of the war.
Reasons for Declaration of the war
The Desire to uphold “national honor”; the Americans were motivated to hold national honor because they felt that the British were “insulting” them. For example, the Leopard Affair where the British warship crew attacked and boarded the American frigate UUS Chesapeake.

(Horsman 154)
Trade related issues: The Great British was in a bitter conflict with the Napoleon Bonaparte’s France and wanted to cut off supplies from reaching them. The British passed a law that required countries to obtain a license from its authorities before trading with France. This restriction of trade was hurting American more. (Horsman 157)
Impressment: After the Napoleonic Wars, the US believed that the deserters from the Great Britain had a right to become United States citizens while the British did not recognize the idea of naturalized United States citizenship.
American expansionism: Some leaders such as Tecumseh obstructed the America expansion into the Northwest Territory with the help of the British. The Americans were demanding that these interferences be stopped. (Horsman 159)
Political conflict in the United States: Even though the British government was unaware of the deteriorating of the North America due to its involvement in the European-wide war, the US was going through a period of significant conflict between the Federalist Party and the Republicans. The Federalist Party had closer ties to Britain while the Republicans favored preservation of slavery as well as expansion into Indian land.
How the War Changed America
Improvements in the US military: America lost over 2000 soldiers in the war, this made the US aware of the lapse in the military field. The embarrassing defeat made the America put more emphasis on development and improvement of military forces. General Winfield Scott drove the agenda of training officers at the United States Military Academy with professionalism. This new professionalism came in handy during the Mexican-America War.
Regaining of the “National Honour”: the Americans widely celebrated the defeat of British invasion army at New Orleans, and they felt as if they had restored their sense of honor. Since then the reputation of the Republic Government and the continued supremacy of the US are just indications of the reclamation of the national honor.
Established and growth of industries; the war boosted the manufacturing capacities of the United States. Since the American coast was blocked they America decided to build its manufacturing industries such as the cotton industry at Waltham.
An Introduction of new policies: The American foreign policy changed as a result of this war. After the war, Jefferson put it upon himself to create foreign policy, Jefferson’s lone foreign foray that would protect the American shipping interest from the Pirates. From this policy, other policies have been created and amended to strengthen the fight against piracy. Today, incidences of piracy in America are fewer as compared to those in other coastal regions (Horsman 51).
The 1812 war changed the American politics and governance. The major change was the collapse of the Federalist Party. The party was pro-British and had to go completely. This collapse resulted in the Democratic Party being the only major political party for many years after that. The war changed the status of some politicians such as Andrew Jackson whose heroic status improved making him appeal to the public.
Long-term Results of the war
Peace: All the rivalling sides lost their citizens in the war, and this was an eye opener to the importance of peace. The sides made peace with each other and since then they haven’t gone back into fighting. Resolution of the causes of the war took place, and the British abolished the policy of impressment of American soldiers.
Marking of Boundaries: After the war had ended, the rivalling sides made a deal to give back the new territories they had acquired back to their pre-war owners. The boundaries were marked, and everybody was told to respect the boundaries. Since then, there hasn’t been any boundary conflict of this kind (Chapelle 23).
The war paved the way for the Monroe Doctrine, which until the end of the century, gave the United States a legal cover to declare itself as a regional power. The United States finally brought various Latin American countries within its domain of influence. (Levy 78)
The war ultimately ended the British’s ambitions of re-taking their colonies and also ended the America ambitions to annex Canada (Hickey 234). The war was an indicator of the dangers of having these ambitions, and this is why they dropped the ambitions ever since.
Conclusion
The war may have had its positive gains, but it also led to the loss of so many lives. The war is a peculiar one and some people even term it to be obscure. They regard it so because there was no any great president who had a direct association with the conflict. The war’s ultimate cause is not well known since different people have different versions of what might have caused it. However, most people agree that the war was over maritime issues and issues of trade restrictions. (Roosevelt 277) War does not have an ultimate winner since all the sides lost some things while gaining others. The war, however, goes into the history books as a clear indicator of the importance of upholding peace. The war also serves a clear guideline on how to rebuild a country after it goes to war. The war showed that a country can still emerge from war and be a super power.
Works Cited
Chapelle, Howard Irving. The history of American sailing ships. Vol. 46. Bonanza Books, 1935.
Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A forgotten conflict. University of Illinois Press, 2012.
Horsman, Reginald. The Causes of the War of 1812. Vol. 4087. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962.
Levy, Jack. “Misperception and the causes of war: Theoretical linkages and analytical problems.” World Politics 36.01 (1983): 76-99.
Roosevelt, Theodore. The Naval War of 1812, Or, The History of the United States Navy During the Last War with Great Britain: To which is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans. Da Capo Press, 1882.