Compare And Contrast The War Of 1812 And Mexican American War

The War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War are two wars that physically seem two alternate extremes. “On land, the War of 1812 was fought to define the nation’s boundaries” (Faragher p. 189). A handful of U.S. leaders, referred to as the “war hawks,” also wanted to expand into British Canada. They exploited fears about Tecumseh and naval complaints against the British to garner support for a conflict that would become known as the War of 1812. However, American believed that “Manifest Destiny” was a major factor in the cause Mexican-American war, the expansion of white Americans across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God. This belief in “Manifest Destiny” led both country’s into war. There are numerous similarities and difference between the War of 1812 with the Mexican-American war. Those two wars had many different results that lead to …show more content…
Many Westerners blamed the British for Tecumseh’s attacks on pioneer settlements in the Northwest. President Madison explained to Congress that Britain was still interfering with American affairs. “They found all aspects of British interference, such as impressment of sailors and support for western Indians, intolerable” (Faragher p. 188). Congress declared war on June 18, 1812. “Tecumseh’s Alliance in the Old Northwest (1809–1811) and the Creek Rebellion in the Old Southwest (1813–1814) were the culminating struggles in Indian resistance to the American invasion of the trans-Appalachian region. Indian resistance was a major reason for the War of 1812” (Faragher p. 187). Britain helped to provide arms and support to Native Americans in the western frontiers who were attacking American. “The British are fighting to keep the Americans from invading Canada. Tecumseh and the Indians are fighting desperately to hold onto their lands in the Great Lakes region and in the south as well”