War Of 1812 Dbq

The War of 1812 was considered a highly controversial topic. President Madison believed that war would end many injustices that Britain had imposed on the United States. However, not everyone joined President Madison and his battle cries. There were many Federalist, especially New England Federalists, that were against the war. Britain had its grips on the United States for many years until the United States decided to fight for its independence in the Revolutionary War. Even after gaining independence in the Revolutionary War, Britain seemed to want to maintain control over the United States and continued to overstep their boundaries. Beyond popular demand, President Madison had asked Congress to declare war. Americans in opposition to the …show more content…
Congress deliberated for the next few days and were starkly divided. On June 4th, 1812 the House of Representatives voted 78 to 49 to declare war, and on June 17th the Senate voted 19 to 13 in favor to declare war on Britain (Butler, “War of 1812 Began with Close Votes”). Every Federalist in Congress voted against the war, along with nineteen Republicans, and many common Americans also opposed the decision to go to war (Butler, “War of 1812 Began with Close Votes”). They rightfully had their reasons that this war did not look promising for a young America and feared of what results a potential war would …show more content…
The War Department lacked experience and did not give Americans confidence going into war. “The prosecution of the war was marred by considerable bungling and mismanagement. This was partly due to the nature of the republic. The nation was too young and immature- and its government to feeble and inexperienced- to prosecute a major war effectively” (Hickey “An American Perspective on the War of 1812”). Although outnumbered by American forces, the British Army were well-trained professionals and President Madison was unaware of the huge undertaking it was to create a well-coordinated army. America did not have much of an army established at all and what was established was few in numbers and widely scattered. In the early months of 1812, the army only had around 4,000 poorly trained troops. Congress called to enlist soldiers to get the numbers up to 35,000. The insufficient War Department and Congress were unable to rally this many. By the Spring of 1812, Congress authorized emergency enlistments of 15,000 soldiers. By the time war had come upon America, a meek 7,000 men were enlisted. (Watson, 7). Barbuto, the author of 1812: The United States Builds a Regular Army, describes how unprepared America really was. “Arsenals held some clothing and equipment but not enough to satisfy the immense need. New officers, numbering in the many hundreds, did not know their