War of 1812

1. War of 1812

2. Constitutional Act of 1791 • As a result of the American Revolution, between 80,000 and 100,000 British loyalists left their homes in the United States and many came to Canada. • These new settlers weren't happy living under French law and the Roman Catholic church. They also wanted to hold their lands outright, not as part of the seigneurial system. • The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the colony of Quebec into two parts - Upper Canada for the English and Lower Canada for the French. Each was given its own government.

3. Governor John Graves Simcoe • Simcoe was lieutenant-governor of the British colony of Upper Canada.Simcoe wanted to re-create British society in Upper Canada. He believed that the upper class should provide government, military, and religious leadership to lower classes. • He passed a law against slavery. It freed slaves over age 25 and made it illegal to take slaves into the colony. • He increased settler population (especially Americans) to Upper Canada by offering them land grants in return for an oath of loyalty to the King and possible militia service.

4. Causes: Impressment of American Sailors • Britain and France at war in Europe. • In 1812, the British Royal Navy had over 500 active warships and 140,000 men serving aboard them. However, the pay was poor, food was often disgusting, working conditions were extremely dangerous, and discipline was harsh. • There were not enough volunteers to serve in the Royal Navy so British sailors boarded American merchant vessels and captured British navy deserters and American sailors and “impressed” them, or forced them to work on British ships.

5. Causes: Merchant Ship Trade Blockade • Britain and France tried to restrict any trade with their enemy. • Merchant ships from America were banned by Britain from trading with France and Europe. The Royal Navy attempted to seize all ships that attempted to defy this blockade. • The Americans felt that since they were not at war with anyone, they had the right as any independent nation to trade with anyone. • Between 1807 and 1812, Britain seized over 900 American ships.

6. Causes: Manifest Destiny • After the United States gained independence from Britain, Americans were distrustful of the continued British presence in North America. • Manifest Destiny came to represent the ideology of American expansionism across North America. Many Americans believed that the United States was destined to claim control over territory remaining under British possession, namely Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

7. Causes: The War Hawks • The War Hawks were members of the American Congress who put pressure on President James Madison to declare war against Britain in 1812. • The War Hawks encouraged war as a means to retaliate against Britain for the economic distress caused by the blockade, and for what they perceived as British support for the First Nations in resisting American expansion into the West. • On June 18th 1812, President Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain.

8. The First Nations Perspective • Americans were trying to expand their territory into land where First Nations peoples were already living. • Americans in favour of expansionism had been fighting the First Nations south of the Great Lakes for decades, ever since the Treaty of Paris in 1783. • Two Shawnee brothers, Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh, led a resistance against American expansion. Tecumseh believed that firm action by a confederacy of many First Nations was the only way to stop American aggression.

9. The British Perspective • American expansion worried the British since its colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada might be attacked by American forces. • American expansion also threatened Rupert’s Land and the freedom that British fur traders enjoyed in that territory. • An attack on this North-Western Territory would disrupt the fur trade. An American invasion could destroy profitable and mutually beneficial relationships between the British and First Nations people.

10. The Battle of Tippecanoe • The Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7th 1811, was fought on the Tippecanoe River in Indiana. • The American governor of Indiana, William Henry Harrison brought his troops to attack the First Nations village of Prophetstown. • Although Harrison claimed victory, the results do not support his claim. The Americans suffered 200 casualties, of which 60 were killed, while the First Nations lost 50 warriors and upwards of 80 wounded.

11. Sir Isaac Brock • Isaac Brock served as the civil administrator and military commander of Upper Canada. • Although he was very short of troops (commanding only 1,500 troops), he succeeded in strengthening the defences of Upper Canada and training the militia. • Brock understood that the key to holding Upper Canada was the British-First Nations alliance. One of his key allies was Tecumseh. Both Brock and Tecumseh were skilled military strategists.

12. Battle of Fort Detroit • Brock’s small army of 300 British regulars, 600 Indian warriors, and 400 Upper Canadian militia marched on the American fort of Detroit. Although outnumbered 2 to 1, they had one big advantage, the Americans were terrified of Indians. • Tecumseh openly paraded his Indian warriors in full view of the fort. Brock’s forces pounded the American fort with artillery fire. • Fearing a massacre of his army by Indian warriors, General Hull surrendered Fort Detroit without a fight. Brock took 2,500 prisoners.

13. Battle of Queenston Heights • American General Stephen Van Rensselaer invaded Upper Canada by crossing the Niagara River. • At first, the British artillery pinned down the Americans on the beach below. But, in a surprise attack, the American forces seized a powerful British cannon. Brock regrouped his troops and led a charge to regain the gun. He was shot and killed. • The British-First Nations alliance was victorious. 1,000 Americans were taken prisoner, 300 were killed or wounded. The British and Indians had only 28 killed and 77 wounded.

14. Battle of Lake Erie • The British squadron sailed forth from its base in Amherstburg, Upper Canada, and found an American fleet at anchor in Put-in-Bay of the Bass Islands (Ohio). • 6 smaller British naval vessels fought against an American fleet of 9 vessels with more firepower. • The Americans were victorious. All the British ships were captured. British losses numbered 41 dead, 94 wounded and 306 captured. American casualties were 27 dead and 96 wounded. The Americans gained command of Lake Erie.

15. Battle of York • 1700 Americans under Commodore Isaac Chauncey sailed to the capital of Upper Canada, York [Toronto]. • British troops withdrew without much of a fight. As they retreated, they destroyed a British ship and naval supplies in order to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. • American troops looted homes they found deserted, along with several businesses and public buildings. The Americans then set fire to the Parliament, Government House, and several other public buildings, and destroyed the local printing press.

16. Battle of the Thames • Following the loss of Lake Erie, the British commander, Henry Procter, was short of supplies and feared that his troops could be cut off and trapped on the Detroit frontier. He retreated along the Thames River. • When American forces caught up at Moraviantown, the battle began. Procter fled for safety as soon as the fighting started, leaving behind his tired and disheartened men. 606 of these troops were killed or captured. • Tecumseh and a few hundred Indian warriors fought on, but they lost the battle. Tecumseh was killed.

17. Battle of Chateauguay • Along the marshy shores of the Châteauguay River near Montréal, a less than 1000 man all-Canadian force of Voltigeurs, fencibles, militia, and several Kahnawake warriors, under the command of French-Canadian lieutenant-colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry successfully defended against a 4000 man American army. • The Canadians had lodged behind well-constructed defensive barriers. To make it seem like they had more troops than they really did, the men made a lot of noise. The American general was fooled and retreated.

18. Battle of Crysler’s Farm • An American army of some 8000 men, commanded by Major-General James Wilkinson, moved down the St. Lawrence on route to Montreal. • Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Morrison, with 800 British and Canadian regulars, militia and Indians, engaged the Americans on a farmer’s field along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. • After two hours of heavy fighting, the British defeated the enemy. This American defeat, combined with the defeat at Chateauguay, prevented America from capturing Montreal.

19. Battle of Lundy’s Lane • Two kilometers from Niagara Falls, British Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond with about 2800 men, British regulars assisted by Canadian fencibles and militia, engaged an invading American army. The armies were evenly matched and the six-hour battle lasted until darkness and heavy losses put an end to the fighting. • Each force had lost over 800 men. Although each side claimed victory, the Americans had retreated and failed to dislodge Drummond from his position. This battle stopped the American invasion of Upper Canada

20. The Treaty of Ghent • The Treaty of Ghent was signed in Ghent, Belgium, on Christmas Eve 1814 by Britain and America. This agreement ended the War of 1812. • None of the issues that had caused the war or that had become critical to the conflict were included in the treaty. There was nothing included on neutral rights or impressment. All captured territory in Upper and Lower Canada and America was returned to its original owner. • First Nations were not consulted during the negotiations, even though they had been a vital part of the war.