In 1812, the United States became embroiled in another war with Great Britain. To some, it might have seemed like a sudden about-face after decades of neutrality; to others, the conflict had been brewing since the Revolution ended in 1783. This is the fifth in our series of “exhibits” that focus on and contextualize pivotal years in American history (see our previous posts: 1776, 1861, 1941, and 1492). In this case, we explore 1812, closely examining historical documents that illuminate the events before and after the breaking point.
U.S. Neutrality Post Revolution
Inspired by the success of the American Revolution, revolutionaries in France initiated a similar, anti-monarchist movement in 1789, which led to war with other European nations. They hoped for support from the new United States, but President George Washington wished to avoid being drawn into a European war. To clarify his position, he asked Alexander Hamilton to draft and circulate his Rules of Neutrality in 1793.
The following year, James Monroe, newly installed as the U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France, predicted the fall of Western Europe to the French Revolutionary Forces. In a letter to Senator John Langdon, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, Monroe writes, “After Maastricht falls, and which it will soon most probably do, there is nothing to oppose them.” Indeed with Napoleon, already a general, beginning to rise to military and political fame, the French were positioned to dominate.
The United States clung to its doctrine of neutrality, offending both the French and the English as they waged war against each other, and resulting in burdensome trade restrictions and the seizure of American vessels. In June of 1807, the British fired on a U.S. ship and captured sailors, an event known as the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair. President Thomas Jefferson only managed to quell the American public and avoid war by signing the Embargo Act, which essentially closed U.S. ports to all exports and restricted imports from Britain. He shored up the ports and home waters with naval patrols, and for a few years, war was averted.
“Each party [England and France] indeed would admit our commerce with themselves, with the view of associating us in their war against the other. But we have wished war with neither,” wrote Thomas Jefferson in an 1808 letter.
The hope held by Washington and Jefferson that France and England would respect U.S. sovereignty became increasingly unlikely as the Napoleonic wars dragged on. In 1811, Napoleon funded major defensive campaigns in Spain and Portugal as the two nations battled it out for European supremacy. The Embargo Act had largely failed, and the U.S. had trouble with both powers. Yet President James Madison felt pushed by several hostile events into declaring war on Britain in June of 1812.
The War of 1812
In the lead up to the War of 1812, the U.S. eyed westward expansion. Indiana’s Territorial Governor (later President) William Henry Harrison had fought and won the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. This had the desired effect of pushing Native Americans off the land the U.S. government wanted, yet it also pushed Native leaders to align with Britain. This, in addition to the maritime outrages by the British, persuaded many in the U.S. Congress to support war.
The lynchpin, however, may have been a plot of deception featuring letters–the “Henry Letters”–believed at the time to document the Governor General of Canada’s efforts to spy on Americans and detect Federalist sympathies to join the British Empire. President Madison had the letters published in a pamphlet in March of 1812.
“I lay before Congress copies of certain documents… They prove that…in negotiations on the part of the British government, through its public minister here, a secret agent was employed in certain states, more especially in Massachusetts, in fomenting disaffection to the constituted authorities of the nation…”
When war came, William Henry Harrison, in addition to his role as Governor, became Commander of the U.S. Army of the Northwest. An uncommon autograph of his from the command in which he saved the Northwest Territory for the U.S. evokes that tumultuous time period. Harrison was a fierce military leader. He repelled British and Native American forces and was later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service.
On the battlefield, General Harrison was known to carry books with him. One of the volumes he had for inspiration during the War of 1812 is a copy of Plutarch’s Lives. On the day before the Battle of Lake Erie commenced in 1813, Harrison signed and sent this book to his son, with the following inscription:
“Willm. H. Harrison sends this set of Plutarch’s to his beloved son J.C. Symmes Harrison in the hope that he will diligently study the lives of great men contained in it & that if he is unable to rival their splendid achievements in their country’s service, he will at least imitate their private victories. Head Qtr. Seneca Town. 9th Sept. 1813.”
After the Americans’ success at the Battle of Lake Erie, Harrison led 3,500 troops against a combined force of eight hundred British soldiers and five hundred Native Americans at Moraviantown, along the Thames River in Ontario, Canada. That too produced a victory for the U.S., prompting the British to agree to peace talks.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay, newly arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the negotiations, was overly optimistic. In April of 1814, he wrote a letter to William H. Crawford, the U.S. ambassador to France, stating, “The success with which our operations on the Lakes, in the N.W. and in the South had been attended gave to the administration a strength….”
The defeat of Napoleon that same month, however, allowed the British to aim their full military might on the North American conflict. They captured Washington, D.C. and burned the Capitol, the White House, and the Library of Congress.
Thus the war raged, with major U.S. victories at Plattsburgh, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland, occurring that fall while the negotiators crafted a document that would ultimately end the war.
The Treaty of Ghent
American negotiators had been in Ghent for months hoping to broker the end of the war. They included the chief US diplomat in Europe (later President) John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, Jonathan Russell, and James Bayard. A lack of funding to finance the ongoing war proved to be another thorn in the side of the Americans. In a letter dated December 2, 1814 and signed by both Adams and Gallatin, they tasked Ambassador Crawford with asking European lenders to buy stock in the new Bank of America. It was not a scheme that worked well, and the U.S. incurred large debts.
There was progress towards peace, however. The very same day Adams and Gallatin wrote to Crawford about the nation’s financial distress, the entire group of Ghent negotiators sent another important letter to Crawford. This diplomatic communique, signed by all of them, instructed the ambassador to cease in the effort to bring French troops into the war, a plan hatched while Britain stalled the peace talks. The diplomats knew at this point that a settlement had been reached, and indeed this remarkable letter precedes the Treaty of Ghent by mere weeks.
The day before the Treaty of Ghent was officially signed, December 24, 1814, a detailed analysis of the Treaty was sent to Crawford. In the handwriting of Jonathan Russell, acting U.S. ambassador to Britain when war was declared and ambassador to Sweden and Norway during the talks, the report outlines the main diplomatic points of the Treaty and notes its imminent signing:
“We shall receive the British ministers at a conference this day to fill up the blanks, particularly those with respect to the limitation of capture at sea, and to arrange some of the formalities of the treaty. This done, and fair copies of the treaty drawn up, it will be signed. You have now before you the results of our labors. I will make no other comment than that I believe we have done the best, or nearly the best, which was practicable in existing conditions.”
Russell is also known for having coined the term “Era of Good Feelings” for the decade following the War of 1812, from 1815-1825.
A New Balance of Power
In the days of sailing ships running against the wind, news traveled slowly. Unaware of the Treaty signing, British forces launched a major offensive at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. They were roundly defeated by the American army led by future U.S. President Andrew Jackson.
Unofficial word of the Treaty arrived in Washington on February 14, 1815, with President James Madison receiving the news reports that night. He received a congratulatory letter from his Attorney General Richard Rush, to which he replied, predicting that the American public would be satisfied with the results at Ghent. Penned on February 15, 1815, it is Madison’s first written response to the news that the War of 1812 was over, outside of his official notice to the U.S. Senate. Madison wrote, “[T]he events of the war…cannot fail to command…respect….”
Henry Clay, one of the Ghent envoys, had traveled on to London, where he was filled with exuberance about the reception of the peace he helped negotiate, and glowing about the resurgence of Napoleon. In a letter dated March 23, 1815, Clay writes of “great joy, manifested in illuminations.” Of Napoleon, who had escaped exile in Elba, he adds, “Wonderful age! Wonderful man! Wonderful nation!… European peace is out of the question, but who will be the parties to the new War? Will they make war upon him or he on them?”
That answer would come soon enough. In late 1814 and early 1815, Europe had been trying to find its footing post Napoleon. The future King George IV had appointed the Duke of Wellington to negotiate at the Congress of Vienna. But Wellington had to leave the Congress early to fight Napoleon. Wellington earned a victory at the Battle of Waterloo and the Treaty of Vienna was ultimately signed, which established the European balance of power for a century.
As the U.S. entered its “Era of Good Feelings,” it remained wary of European hostilities and appointed Ambassador Crawford to be Secretary of War. Crawford, knowledgeable and experienced, would preside over the military standing down after years of bitter conflict. This appointment, signed by both Madison as President and James Monroe as Secretary of State, is the earliest cabinet appointment document to reach the market.
The positive outcome of the War of 1812 boosted American nationalist feelings and encouraged the expansionism that would shape the remainder of the 19th century. To view more historical documents and autographs from this time period, visit our dedicated 19th Century page.
