what were the three causes of the war of 1812
Origins of the War of 1812 There were several causes for the U.S. declaration of war: First, a series of trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France, a country with which Britain was at war (the U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law);[2] second, the impressment (forced recruitment) of seamen on U.S. vessels into the Royal Navy (the British claimed they were British deserters); third, the British military support for American Indians who were offering armed resistance to the expansion of the American frontier to the Northwest; fourth, a possible desire on the part of the United States to annex Canada.[3] An implicit but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults (such as the Chesapeake affair).[4]
Results of the War of 1812 After Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Britain was no longer at war with France and there were no restrictions on trade; the British suspended their policy of impressment of American sailors, and never resumed it, but they insisted they still had the right to resume it. Americans believed they had regained their honour[2] and proclaimed victory in what they called a "second war of independence" for the decisive defeat of the British invaders at New Orleans seemed to prove that Britain could never regain control of America (although this had at no time during the war been either plausible or a British intention).[3] The threat of secession by New England ended with the failure of the Hartford Convention.