In this video series, HISTORY.com takes viewers on a journey to better understand the War of 1812. Topics discussed include Dolly Madison's rescue of a portrait of George Washington, Francis Scott Key's composition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and James Madison's prominence in the onset of hostilities. Be sure to check out all eight videos to truly experience this important event in American history.
From the Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present Podcasts website—
"Alcohol quenched nearly every thirst there was in colonial America. Author Ed Crews explains why the preference existed and how the prevailing medical wisdom supported it."
Curious to learn more? Check out this essay by Ed Crews on drinking in Colonial America.
From the Pritzker Military Library website:
"Join us for a discussion by Chicago's own prize-winning newspaper reporter and author Jerry Crimmins who will discuss his novel, Fort Dearborn. Told from the perspective of two young boys and their fathers—one a sergeant with the United States First Infantry, the other a Potawatomi warrior—readers can learn of the early days of Chicago's history. Crimmins weaves his story with rich detail from primary source material in the exploration of the events and driving forces that led to the Fort Dearborn Massacre during the War of 1812 in what is now downtown Chicago.
Using scores of letters, historical documents and maps, and long-forgotten Indian speeches Crimmins breathes life into the little known drama that took place. Early in the nineteenth century, the Potawatomi attempted to co-exist with the settlers at the newly built Fort Dearborn. But eventually the Native Americans turn to violence, in an effort to preserve their lands and customs. A suspenseful narrative, Fort Dearborn is also a remarkable historical account, meticulously documented, preserving a key period in early American and regional history."
From the Pritzker Military Library website:
"The Civil War of 1812 sheds light on the tangled origins of the relationship between the United States and Canada. In a world of double identities, slippery allegiances, and porous boundaries, the leaders of the young American republic and the British empire struggled to control their own diverse peoples. Soldiers, immigrants, settlers, and Indians fought in a northern borderland to determine the fate of a continent. Americans were divided anew, between former Loyalists and Patriots, fighting alongside native peoples defending their homelands. Serving in both armies, Irish immigrants battled one another, reaping charges of rebellion and treason, while dissident Americans flirted with secession and aided the British as smugglers and spies.
After fighting to a standstill, the Americans and the British were forced to coexist. Taylor concludes that, by ending in a stalemate, the War of 1812 provided assurance that both sides needed—that they could survive each other’s presence on a shared continent, and could settle later border disputes without recourse to another war."
Professor David Henkin examines the ongoing war between Native American nations and the United States in 1812 and prior to and following 1812. He also considers popular memory of Native American history and failure to integrate it into U.S. history as a whole.
This short video from the Library of Congress takes a look at a rather unimposing document from 1814. The document—a printed summary of the federal government's expenses from that year—was a symbol of retribution to Admiral Cockburn, commander of the British forces during the War of 1812.
Why did the United States develop naval power from 1775-1815?
As today's foremost maritime power, it is misunderstood that Americans have always wanted or needed a powerful navy. Meeting in a waterfront Philadelphia tavern in 1775, the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress, (which included John Adams) formed the Continental Navy, authorizing construction of 13 frigates. Since the British jealously guarded their own shipbuilding industry, the colonists took time developing one that could produce sound and seaworthy vessels.
In the interim, some of the first war ships were simply converted merchant vessels and commissioned privateers. As the Revolutionary War progressed, these makeshift war vessels proved more successful than the Continental Navy's commissioned ships, most of which were either captured or destroyed by the Royal Navy. Even John Paul Jones' illustrious Bonhomme Richard, though victorious over HMS Serapis, sank off the coast of England. By the end of the war, only a handful of the estimated 65 ships that served in the Continental Navy survived, and in 1785 Congress auctioned the last vessel of the Continental Navy to a private owner.
The early development of the U.S. Navy must also be considered within the context of the interaction between domestic politics and public diplomacy. Navies, much like standing armies, were, and still are, enormously expensive to build, man, equip, and even more costly to maintain. Following the Revolution, purposeful legislative discussions tended to hit a dead end over funding and taxes—along with concerns over the increased power and authority a Navy might allow a new central government and the nature of the global maritime threat. Though the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans differed on just about everything, one thing they agreed upon was the importance of frugality. As Ian Toll noted in Six Frigates, "even proponents tended to accept the judgment that the federal government, still groaning under the weight of its Revolutionary War debts, could not afford [a Navy]." Possibly informed by the observation of Thucydides, who remarked that "the growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon, made war inevitable," early Republic leaders warily measured the risks of inciting the world's most powerful maritime power of the time, the British Royal Navy, by building a naval presence.
Nevertheless, by the 1790s, post-Revolutionary War America found itself drawn again into European affairs. North African pirates closed off access to lucrative Mediterranean markets by seizing her ships and cargo and enslaving and ransoming the crew. This drove up maritime insurance rates and bankrupted merchant houses, some of which operated out of Philadelphia, which was the seat of government at the time. After some political wrangling, some of it sectional, and some along Federalist-Republican partisan lines, Congress authorized funds to build six frigates in March 1794.
Progress was embarrassingly slow. In one of the earliest instances of "pork barrel politics," President Washington planned to distribute the building of the six frigates at six separate seaports running up and down the eastern seaboard. Washington wanted to make sure that the nation's shipbuilding industry was less concentrated; at the time, it was dominated by a handful of Quakers in Philadelphia. One huge challenge for the construction project was the procurement, cutting, and transport of the hundreds of enormous live oak trees from remote places like St. Simon Island, GA that were needed to accommodate shipwright Joshua Humphrey's design. Many of the contracted New England woodsmen got malaria, and the oxen died from sickness and heat. Secretary of War Henry Knox was tasked with the unfortunate act of repeatedly explaining the delays and cost overruns to Congress.
In the original "Act to Provide a Naval Armament of 1794," Republicans included a provision that construction would cease if negotiations with Algiers over access to the Mediterranean bore fruit. In 1796 the Senate ratified a treaty with Algiers that included the payment of ransoms, tributes, and the construction of a frigate for the Dey of Algiers. President Washington wanted construction of the six frigates to continue despite the Republican provision. Congress compromised by agreeing to the construction of three ships: Constitution, United States, and Constellation.
The French Revolution also effected the development of the U.S. Navy. Americans were deeply divided over the implications of the French Revolution. Some felt that events in France confirmed the strong mutual affinity for revolutionary ideals, while others, social conservatives and Federalists, cast a more wary eye, believing that the Grand Terror proved that too much equality was not necessarily a good thing. Federalists believed that negotiations with Great Britain might serve to stem the wave of pro-French sentiment in Americans. This resulted in the negotiation of the Jay Treaty of 1794 that reestablished commercial ties between the United States and Great Britain. This incensed Republicans at home and France abroad.
In 1795 French privateers captured over 300 merchantmen, and in 1797 French agents demanded a bribe from the American peace commissioners in order to continue peace negotiations. In 1798, President Adams scored political points for the Federalists as he informed Congress of the "XYZ Affair." By July 1798, Congress rescinded treaties with France marking the beginning of the Quasi-War which spurred a need for naval presence along U.S. trade routes, and to provide protection of U.S. ports.
Meanwhile, the frigates United States, Constellation, and Constitution had been launched, and Benjamin Stoddert assumed duty as the first Secretary of the Navy in June 1798. In February 1799, the frigate Constellation, under the command of Captain Thomas Truxtun, captured the French 36-gun frigate L'Insurgente off Nevis Island in the Caribbean. The Quasi-War ended in the fall of 1800 thanks in large measure to President John Adams's willingness to send a peace delegation to confer with France. Benjamin Stoddert was extremely adept as Secretary of the Navy, and Thomas Truxtun, having trounced the French twice, proved a decidedly capable commander at sea. To the surprise of many, America had begun to establish a fairly respectable naval tradition.
President Jefferson pledged to keep the size and cost of government to a minimum. Through Jefferson's talented and penny-pinching Treasury Secretary, Albert Gallatin, the goal was to severely reduce ship and manpower strength. But when in October 1801 the Dey of Algiers humiliated the Americans by forcing Captain Bainbridge to convey the Algerian ambassador and his entourage to Constantinople, Jefferson realized that he needed a strong navy to combat Algiers aggression. The Barbary Wars dragged on ineffectually for a number of years, punctuated by the legendary exploits of Navy Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, William Eaton, and Marine Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon ("to the shores of Tripoli").
Historian William M. Fowler, Jr. suggests that simply paying tribute would have been more cost effective for the frugal Jeffersonians. But of course, wars and national defense rarely operate on such rational terms. With small casualty lists and consistent victories at sea, this was a "good war" in today's political lexicon, and it captivated and sustained America's popular imagination and nationalist sentiments over a number of years.
Most military historians would agree that America went to war with Great Britain in part over the principle of "freedom of the seas." Although the U.S. Army performed poorly in the War of 1812, the performance of the Navy was a notable bright spot. Indeed, some of America's most renowned naval heroes appeared in popular folklore during this time, including William Bainbridge and Oliver Hazard Perry. By the end of the War of 1812, the United States Navy had established a level of respectability abroad and credibility at home that served to justify its existence and fiscal support in the public's mind. In his final report before stepping down as Secretary of the Navy, William Jones recommended the establishment of a Naval Academy along the lines of West Point, and expansion of the Navy instead of major cutbacks and mothballing. With this support the U.S. Navy turned an institutional corner in its history. After 40 years of fits and starts, Americans came to recognize the importance of a strong maritime tradition as both an embodiment of national pride and unity and as an instrument for attaining global prestige and power.
Historical aspects of many of the 384 areas under the National Park Service's stewardship are presented in this expansive site. A "Links to the Past" section contains more than 25 text and picture presentations on such diverse history-related topics as archeology, architecture, cultural groups and landscapes, historic buildings, and military history. Of particular interest to teachers, a section entitled "Teaching with Historic Places" features more than 60 lesson plans designed "to enliven the teaching of history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects" by incorporating National Register of Historic Places into educational explorations of historic subjects. Examples include an early rice plantation in South Carolina; the lives of turn-of-the-century immigrant cigar makers near Tampa, Florida; a contrast between the Indianapolis headquarters of African-American businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker and a small store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that grew into the J. C. Penney Company, the first nationwide department store chain; the Civil War Andersonville prisoner of war camp; President John F. Kennedy's birthplace; the Liberty Bell; Finnish log cabins in Iowa; and the Massachusetts Bay Colony's Saugus Iron Works. Especially useful for teachers interested in connecting the study of history with historic sites.
This site is a collection of 253 travel narratives written between 1750 and 1920. The narratives were written by American citizens and foreign visitors about their travels in America. Some of the accounts were written by famous Americans (James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving, for example), but most of the authors were not famous. The narratives include their observations and opinions about American people, places, and society; and are valuable sources for the study of early American attitudes. Most accounts are viewable either as scanned images or as transcribed texts. Also included is the 32-volume set of manuscript sources entitled Early Western Travels, 1748-1846. The collection is searchable by keyword, and may be browsed by subject, author, and title. Students and teachers will find these primary sources invaluable for research and study of the late 18th and 19th centuries.
This private collection presents more than 15,800 rare historical maps with a focus on North and South America. The collection is accessible via several formats. A standard browser (the "directory") is designed for use by the general public. In addition to two browsers and a "collections ticker" requiring Insight software (available for free download), a GIS browser shows detailed overlays of maps and geospatial data for the more serious researcher.
Many of the U.S. maps are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are often notable for their craftsmanship. Materials include atlases, globes, books, maritime charts, pocket and wall maps, and children's maps. Users can zoom in to view details. Overlay capabilities make this site valuable for its ability to convey how locations have changed over time.