The
Bombardment of Fort McHenry and the Star Spangled
Banner
After
the resumption of war between France and Great Britain,
British ships frequently harassed American trade
vessels in the Atlantic. Not only did the harassment
disrupt America's international trade, but it also
resulted in the impressment of American sailors.
Because of desertions in the Royal (British) Navy,
British naval forces had to recover their losses.
As a result, they forced Americans to serve in their
navy. They justified impressment by claiming that
because American sailors were once British, they
were always British.
On
June 22, 1807, the British frigate Leopard stopped
the U.S. frigate Chesapeake off the coast
of Virginia and demanded permission to search the
ship for British deserters. When their demand was
refused, the British attacked the American ship
killing three sailors and wounding 18 more. After
the attack, British naval forces announced their
intention to search all American vessels. In response,
Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 which put
a complete stop to all foreign exports, and which
virtually stopped all imports. The point of the
Embargo Act was to punish the British and French
until they began to respect the authority of the
American nation. In actuality, however, American
merchants were punished because they were prohibited
from exporting. In 1809, Jefferson signed the Non-Intercourse
Act which repealed the Embargo Act and opened foreign
trade to all countries except France and Great Britain.
The Non-Intercourse Act proved impossible to enforce,
and was replaced with Macon's Bill Number 2 by Congress
in 1810. Macon's Bill Number 2 allowed for the resumption
of trade with all nations including Great Britain
and France.
Napoleon
I of France indicated he would respect U.S. neutrality
in the war between England and France, if the U.S.
reimposed non-ntercourse with England. The U.S.
president at the time, James Madison agreed, and
subsequently suspended trade with England. Pressured
by Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and others, Madison
called up 100,000 militiamen for six months service
for the purposes of declaring war on England.
Despite
poor preparations, weak military units, a central
government that was not taken seriously in the northeast,
and opposition from the Federalist Party, the war
commenced. It started off poorly as U.S. forces
were routed in several attempts to invade English
strongholds in Canada. Furthermore, British Naval
forces had staged a powerful naval blockade along
much of America's Atlantic coast which prevented
any imports or exports. On August 19, 1812, British
forces and their allied Indians invaded and took
Detroit, Michigan. U.S. Naval forces did manage
a victory against British forces off the coast of
Nova Scotia. Nevertheless, the blockade remained
in place.
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