Though the Indians threatened settlers in the West, the U.S. was hungry for expansion on the North American continent. Jefferson and Madison’s policies both addressed the idea of an American “empire.” The United States wanted to acquire the North American landholdings of other European countries. A goal that surfaced early on was to push the English out of the continent by invading and conquering Canada, which would end the British influence of the Indians and the English threat of the United State’s independence on its own continent.
England also impaired the United State’s right to independence by attempting to control its trade. The decision to go to war in 1812 was largely influenced by economic problems, and England caused most of them. A major concern of the U.S. at the time was its commercial rights, because revenue from trade was important to the growing nation. The war between England and France was both helpful and detrimental to the United States. France at war meant that the U.S. would be transporting more goods and supplies to France from the French West Indies as demand increased, and thus bringing in a tidy profit. But England and France were enemies, and the English were not delighted with the fact that the United States was trading with its enemy. A series of legislations by England, France, and the U.S. were made. To curb the trade, the English courts passed the Essex decision, which stated that American ships that were transporting goods from the French West Indies to France were subject to seizure. Napoleon returned with a blockade of England, but he was unable to enforce it. As a result of the Essex decision, many U.S. merchant vessels were seized by the British navy, which had abilities far superior to that of the United States. Because some British sailors had deserted their vessels and were working on American ones, England could use it as an excuse to impress the sailors of the ships it seized. The large number of ships that were seized resulted in a large loss for the United States, and infuriated the nation. The U.S. prepared the Nonimportation Act of 1806, but did not implement it. Madison and Jefferson had realized that England did not depend as heavily on American goods as the U.S. did on goods from England, and by excluding imports, the U.S. was only injuring itself. The U.S. continued to battle the two nations for its free trading rights. In December of 1811, Felix Grundy spoke his point of view in the House of Representatives.
I am not prepared to say that this country shall submit to have her commerce interdicted or regulated, by any foreign nation. Sir, I prefer war to submission. Over and above these unjust pretensions of the British Government, for many years past they have been in the practice of impressing our seamen, from merchant vessels; this unjust and lawless invasion of personal liberty, calls loudly for the interposition of this Government...
With the impressment of U.S. sailors and the need for commercial rights, war in 1812 seemed to be the preferred route to fully establishing independence.
The combination of all these factors led to the need to declare war in 1812. The United States felt threatened both economically and politically. According to The Annals of American History, Henry Clay summed up the economic motivation of the war. “...for free trade and sailor’s rights.” That is not to say that the political factors were not a part of it. Though the political factors were overshadowed by the economic factors, they did weigh in to the final decision. The determination of the war hawks, the desire to expand, and the need for commercial independence and the impressment of U.S. sailors were all factors that ultimately brought about the decision to go to war.
