Claim:
The British refusal to respect the United States’ right to exchange goods as a neutral nation in the early 19th century led directly to the War of 1812, which in its resolution established a treaty that allowed the United States and Great Britain to settle minor disputes without escalating into full-scale warfare.
Background: The Napoleonic Wars created a climate in which preventing neutral trade from occurring was a beneficial strategy because regulations were being passed to force the other’s hand, and the war had entered a military deadlock. Initially France passed a law known as the Berlin Decree, which meant that any vessel that was in a French port after visiting a British port could be seized ("French revolutionary and Napoleonic …show more content…
One habit of the Royal Navy during the beginning of the 19th century, known as impressment, was to force crewmembers on American vessels to enlist in the Royal Navy by claiming them as English deserters, as there was at the time no way to distinguish Americans from British (Heidler). These acts constituted a military effort against the United States, which was at the time immoral because the United States was neutral, not a French ally. The British took their military pressure one step further, however, by blockading United States shores to prevent trade with the French and even killing Americans on ships in United States waters (Taylor 29). As the United States was at the time a neutral nation, the British never should have been blockading the United States to prevent trade from occurring as the United States was not involved in the war at all, let alone opening fire on American trade vessels in United States seas. By committing such egregious actions as forcing Americans into Royal Navy service and opening fire on American trade vessels, Great Britain refused to respect the neutral rights of the United …show more content…
Many citizens in the South wished to expand into Florida, believing that war with Great Britain would help them accomplish this (Heidler). This created a political climate in which parties wanted to go to war for various reasons, putting massive pressure on the United States government to declare war. As United States president James Madison explains in his war address, the event that ultimately caused him to submit a formal request for a declaration of war was the British refusal to respect the rights of exchange of goods during wartime (Taylor 32). This shows that although territorial expansion was a motive that people had to go to war, nationalism was the motive that finally drove the United States to declare war. With the political pressure from southerners wanting to expand into Florida, the British harassment of United States trade vessels was the tipping point towards full on war between the two
The British refusal to respect the United States’ right to exchange goods as a neutral nation in the early 19th century led directly to the War of 1812, which in its resolution established a treaty that allowed the United States and Great Britain to settle minor disputes without escalating into full-scale warfare.
Background: The Napoleonic Wars created a climate in which preventing neutral trade from occurring was a beneficial strategy because regulations were being passed to force the other’s hand, and the war had entered a military deadlock. Initially France passed a law known as the Berlin Decree, which meant that any vessel that was in a French port after visiting a British port could be seized ("French revolutionary and Napoleonic …show more content…
One habit of the Royal Navy during the beginning of the 19th century, known as impressment, was to force crewmembers on American vessels to enlist in the Royal Navy by claiming them as English deserters, as there was at the time no way to distinguish Americans from British (Heidler). These acts constituted a military effort against the United States, which was at the time immoral because the United States was neutral, not a French ally. The British took their military pressure one step further, however, by blockading United States shores to prevent trade with the French and even killing Americans on ships in United States waters (Taylor 29). As the United States was at the time a neutral nation, the British never should have been blockading the United States to prevent trade from occurring as the United States was not involved in the war at all, let alone opening fire on American trade vessels in United States seas. By committing such egregious actions as forcing Americans into Royal Navy service and opening fire on American trade vessels, Great Britain refused to respect the neutral rights of the United …show more content…
Many citizens in the South wished to expand into Florida, believing that war with Great Britain would help them accomplish this (Heidler). This created a political climate in which parties wanted to go to war for various reasons, putting massive pressure on the United States government to declare war. As United States president James Madison explains in his war address, the event that ultimately caused him to submit a formal request for a declaration of war was the British refusal to respect the rights of exchange of goods during wartime (Taylor 32). This shows that although territorial expansion was a motive that people had to go to war, nationalism was the motive that finally drove the United States to declare war. With the political pressure from southerners wanting to expand into Florida, the British harassment of United States trade vessels was the tipping point towards full on war between the two