War of 1812 (jan 1, 1799 – dec 24, 1814)

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France underwent a huge revolution from 1792 to 1799 resulting in Napoleon becoming the Emperor of France. Napoleon was bent on conquest, especially against Britain. Given the past conflicts of imperial rivalry between Britain and France, the two superpowers were determined to destroy each other's empires. American trade was prospering, and Britain viewed the friendly trade between France and the United States suspiciously and vice versa. England soon began enforcing a policy blocking much of American trade. Napoleon soon set up his continental system which blocked all trade to Britain. This split the country in half, as the Federalist Party supported England, and the Republican Party supported the French Empire. It came to a point that trading with Britain caused France to attack the trading vessels, and vice versa. A factor driving hate at the English was that native Americans relied on their British allies to keep their territory west of the US. After meeting with Congress President Madison signed a declaration of war against Britain in 1811. The American populace had an extremely optimistic expectation of how the war should go; they felt as if nothing was in the way of owning Canada. Within a few months, it was made clear that the American forces were nowhere near ready to invade Canada. Michigan territorial governor William Hull led US forces into Canada but was chased back and surrendered Detroit without a battle. The British and their Native allies pushed the border southwards in this fashion, as the US military was uncoordinated and fraught with a lack of teamwork between generals. A victory for the United States came when Oliver Hazard Perry and his squadron won a big victory and subsequently took back Detroit in 1813. In this battle, Tecumseh (a Native American who founded an alliance with Great Britain) was killed, and his alliance deteriorated, leaving the British without allies in North America. But that didn't mean they were the only ones fighting the US. The Creek people of the American Southeast revolted and started fighting the United States. In 1814, Andrew Jackson replaced a previous general and proceeded to debut his famous career as a killer of Indigenous people by crushing the Creek Rebellion. In 1814 Napoleon was defeated, and more British troops came to the Americas. Washington DC was raided, and in short sequence Baltimore as well. The war was concluded on December 24th, 1814 when the Treaty of Ghent was signed by two weary nations tired of a war.

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