Essay: The War Of 1812 Brought About Nationalism And Sectionalism Essay, Research Paper
Essay: The War of 1812 Brought about Nationalism and Sectionalism
The War of 1812 set the stage for Nationalism and Sectionalism because although the
battles where few and far apart, the battles, except those in the beginning gave the people of the
United States something to be proud of because they where able to go head to head with a well
established world power and hold its own, while protecting our people. At the same time the US
was divided among going to war, and avoiding all war.
At the beginning of the war the US was greatly undermanned with less than 7000 full
time soldiers and only a handful of ships. We made do with what we had and managed to put
up a fight. One of the first victories came when the Battleship USS Constitution sank the British
fighter Guerriere. This victory made Americans turn around and say hey, we might have a chance
if we have some confidence in ourselves. Some more confidence builders came along when
Macdonough defeated 16 ships on lake Champlain just 10 ships of his own, which he turned out
in a mere 30 days. This show of dedication to the American cause gave people a reason to
believe.
Some Battles that where fought on land brought about some of the most impressive
victories for the undermanned and under powered American Army. The British army came in
through Chesapeake Bay and marched towards Washington DC, but it was a force of volunteers,
not even a real trained army, but volunteers that was able to hold Baltimore after 3 days of
bombardment by the British, instilling pride and a feeling of accomplishment within Americans.
All this inspired led Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner after the American flag
remained after the 3 day bombardment by the British, this was a symbol of American strength
and undying will to succeed. Then Andrew Jackson killed over 2000 British soldiers while losing
only 21 of his own.
Although the war was fought, it met great opposition from the people of New England,
while it received encouragement from people in the west. New Englanders objected to the war
because New England s whole economy was based on trade and ship building. War with Britain
would shut down trade with not only Britain but all of Europe because of the British blockade of
the Atlantic Sea. With a blockade and no way to trade there was no need for shipbuilding and the
whole New England economy suffered greatly. It went so far as to create the threat of succession
from the US by the New England States. The people of the west clamored for war on the other
hand. They wanted war because they saw it as an opportunity to expand our borders into Canada
and remove Great Britain from North America for good. These two points of view from two
different parts of the country effectively split the US down the middle.
American victories over Britain created a great deal of pride among Americans. They
where the underdog, yet they went up against a major world power, took there lumps, and grew
from them. Although the East and West had two different opinions on war they each had valid
reasons for being for or against war. The total disruption of your lively hood would be a reason to
avoid war, while the lure of massive amounts of land and total control of a continent is another.