U.S. History / Unit 3: The Early Republic and Expansion
3.3 The War of 1812 and the Era of Good Feelings
Notes
- Causes: British impressment (forcing American sailors into the Royal Navy), interference with U.S. trade, and British support for Native resistance led by Tecumseh.
- War Hawks in Congress, mostly from the South and West, pushed for war; New England merchants mostly opposed it.
- The British burned Washington, D.C., in 1814. The defense of Fort McHenry inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner."
- The Treaty of Ghent (1814) ended the war with no change in borders. Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans (1815) came after the treaty was signed.
- Results: growing nationalism, the collapse of the Federalist Party, weakened Native resistance in the Midwest and growth of American manufacturing.
- Under President James Monroe, one-party rule produced the "Era of Good Feelings."
- The Monroe Doctrine (1823) warned European nations not to create new colonies in the Western Hemisphere.
Practice
Which was a cause of the War of 1812?
Britain seized American sailors and interfered with U.S. shipping during its wars with France.
The Monroe Doctrine stated that:
Monroe declared the Americas closed to new European colonization.
The Battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson a national hero, but it did not affect the outcome of the war because:
News traveled slowly; the treaty was signed in December 1814, before the January 1815 battle.
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