The Bitter War of 1812 began on June 18th after the United States government declared war against the British government over several disagreements. Of importance was the flourishing trade between the United States and other foreign countries that was threatened by the British sanctions. During the Napoleon wars, the British government restricted the trade between the United States and France. This was the beginning of the war. In addition, the British government began to recruit American sailors in their naval forces against their will in a bid to obtain the numbers needed to win the Napoleon wars. At first, the British government disregarded the threat by the American government mainly because they were focused to win the Napoleon wars. They also knew that the United States was not a worthy competitor on the battlefield because they had just attained its independence. After winning the war against the French government in 1914, the British government invested time and effort to aggressively fight the new enemy – the Americans. The Bitter War of 1812
Every victory by the American troops was highly treasured as it was a sign of the restoration of national pride of the American land. This led to the naming of the war as “the second war of independence” because Americans were fighting for their sovereignty as an independent nation. James Madison was an influential figure at the time whose name appears from the beginning to the end of the war. This is evident from when he condemned the ill-treatment of the US citizens by the British government when he was the secretary of state. This initiated the 1812 war. He later went on to declare war against the British government in his capacity as the US president. This is the reason why sometimes the war is referred to as the “Mr. Madison war.” The 1812 war formally ended on 17th February 1815 after both parties entered into the treaty of Ghent that sought to regain all the captured territories during the war. The Bitter War of 1812
