They signed the Treaty of Ghent in December 1814, with neither side truly able to declare victory.The impact of treaty making in Canada has been wide-ranging and long standing. Those victories boosted national confidence and fostered a fresh spirit of patriotism.Īfter almost two years of bitter fighting - including the torching of the Capitol and the Executive Mansion in Washington - both countries decided to end the fight. Still, American troops succeeded in repulsing British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans. In the course of the war, the British military nearly overpowered the Americans. On the surface, the Americans’ declaration of war against the nation with the largest navy in the world - the Royal Navy boasted more than 100 ships of the line and a similar number of frigates among its 555 active warships in June 1812 - seemed ludicrous, an action deserving scant material response from the Admiralty in London. Not a single ship larger than a fifth-rate frigate graced the American list. As a consequence, few reinforcements found their way to Britain’s chief North American station in Halifax, Nova Scotia.Īt the start of the war, the United States had only 16 warships more or less ready for sea, and half of those were, at best, rated sloops of war. leaders wanted to use the war to expand into Canada.Īlthough the British Admiralty ordered a blockade of key ports along the American coast within months of the outbreak of hostilities, the ongoing war with the French Republic and, subsequently, Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire drained ships, men and treasure at a prodigious rate. The English for their part contended that America’s westward push into what is now Ohio, Michigan and Illinois violated treaties. On land, the Americans argued, the British posts in the Great Lakes region were using Native Americans as agents to encourage rebellion.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |