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From: pector@ihuxw.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: War of 1812: 3rd Movement
Message-ID: <583@ihuxw.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 11-Nov-83 08:21:13 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxw.583
Posted: Fri Nov 11 08:21:13 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Nov-83 21:06:14 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il
Lines: 32

Last night when I got home, I checked to see what books I had that referred
to the War of 1812.  I only had 2, William McNeill's "World History" and
Peterson's "Thomas Jefferson," that might.  The former turned out not to
refer to the War at all (what a waste product of a book; it was only
interested in historical patterns and trends).  The latter referred to
the War only as concerned Jefferson's involvement.  It pointed out that
in 1806 or 1807, the British warship, the H.M.S. Leopard, stopped the
U.S. warship, the U.S.S. Chesapeake, at sea to check for any British
deserters that might be serving on that ship.  The British justification
at the time was that they were blockading Napoleon-controlled Europe and
that Napoleon refused to allow any European nations to trade with Britain.
As a result, they needed all the men they could get for the British Navy.
When the American captain refused to allow the British to search for
deserters, the Leopard immediately opened fire on the Chesapeake, killing
3 and wounding 18.  At that point, the search was permitted and 4 sailors
were taken from the Chesapeake onto the Leopard.  The U.S. protested this
action to the British government, but the British rep, Canning, refused
to make amends and in fact defended the action.  The U.S. government,
under Jefferson, started an embargo against Britain, particularly when
there were reports in British papers that the King was going to push for
more laws (orders of council) allowing greater use of impressment, which
had already been used by the British for years.  There were other actions
on the high seas by the British that further enraged the U.S. over the
next few years, leading to the U.S. declaring war on Britain in 1812.
At that point, the only way for the U.S. to carry out war was to attack
the British where they were, and that being in Canada, in order to get
them off the North American continent.

This was what I was able to find about that War.  I hope it points out
that it was not just a "war of conquest" undertaken by the U.S.

						Scott Pector