Timeline

Personal Reflection (Sean)

The War of 1812 should have all been avoided. In the end, it was all just a big waste of lives and resources for everyone. Lots of French, Americans, Indians, and English soldiers died in the process and a huge amount of money, food, and other resources were used on soldiers. This starved normal people and after the war the economy was still horrible so people stayed hungry and poor for a while. This war was also a waste because no one gained or lost any land in the end. In conclusion, The War of 1812 was just a major setback in my opinion.

Issues that Caused the War

Water issues that caused the war was the relation to French/British war, Impressment, and interference with American trade. Impressment was the act of compelling men to serve in a navy by force and without notice. This act was a problem for multiple reasons. This act of impressment never got approved by the International Law. Along with this basically being illegal, there were many abuses on this act. There were rules among impressment that were being broken. Interference with American trade were Napoleon's continental system, Orders-in-Council, and the Chesapeake incident.

Economic issues that caused the war was the Embargo Act, the Depression, and other steps and results. The Embargo Act was basically when a country was placed with a law that they could not export or import goods. It extremely hurt the economy. The Depression was not the Great Depression, but similar in the effect it had on the economy. The people were suffering the same way the people of the Great Depression did. Some other steps and results were basically just people not thinking right and economically crashing as a result.

Political issues that caused the war was the Indian Menace, territorial expansionism, and the actual politics and presidents. The Indian Menace is exactly what it is, an Indian threat. The Indians that were against the British were weak and lost everything to the British. Wars and trades were a weakness in the Indians. The British were strong with this. The British wanted to make a neutral area in Indian territory. This was a major threat to the Indians. Territorial expansionism was basically all that was happening in the political issues. The Indian Menace was a start to territorial expansionism. The British wanted to take Indian land, so did the Americans. This was what ticked the Indians off. Politics were very different back then, so were the presidents. The politics and presidents help get the War of 1812 started. America was ready to fight for the land, so were the British. The Indians, on the other hand, were ready to fight to keep the land.

Pictures of the Aftermath of The War of 1812

These are some pictures showing poverty after The War of 1812 and England and America shaking hands with each other.

Aftermath of The War of 1812 (document)

The War of 1812 had aftermath for all of it’s participants. For starters, France, England, America, and the Native American tribes involved lost a huge amount of their resources because they had to be put towards the war. Also, the war of 1812 was the last time England and America went into conflict with each other because of The Treaty of Ghent. The Treaty of Ghent was the treaty signed on December 14, 1814 that ended the war, all conflict having to do with it, and made all sides give back land that they conquered from other sides. The only side who got any land was America, even though it was after the war, they bought Florida from Spain. Overall, The War of 1812 was basically just a waste of lives and resources.

The Star-Spangled Banner

During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key was the District Attorney for the District of Columbia in Washington. When he learned that his good friend, Dr. William Beanes of Maryland was taken prisoner by a British fleet, Key decided to go rescue him. During the rescue attempt, British officials detained Key.

While he was being held in Maryland, he witnessed the battle at Fort McHenry. The next morning he saw that the American flag was still there. This scene inspired Key to write a poem entitled The Star- Spangled Banner, which he quickly jotted down on the back of an old letter.

The Original Handwritten Poem

Mary Pickersgill, a resident of Baltimore, sewed the flag that inspired Key. Major Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry asked Pickersgill to make the flag very large so that the British fleet could see it. The flag was originally 42 by 40 feet. Today it is 34 by 30 feet and can be seen at The National Museum of American History in Washington DC.

The actual Star Spangled Banner now at the Smithsonian Museum

The Star-Spangled Banner became the official American national anthem by executive order of President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Congress did not confirm the order until 1931. The Star-Spangled Banner was first played at a baseball game in 1918 during the Word Series as a patriotic gesture to the American soldiers fighting in World War I. Officials were thinking about canceling the World Series because of the war, but decided not to when they realized that the troops were looking forward to the games. The anthem was played during the seventh-inning stretch. Today the anthem is traditionally played at the beginning of all major sporting events in the US.

The first published musical score for the Star Spangled Banner