Summerize the Issues and Events of the War of 1812
Around the time of the War with 1812 the U.S was capitalizing from the war between Britain and France by trading goods to both, but swearing support for neither country. We got rich off of both nations, our trade expanded and the economy grew while we were able to stay free of foreign entanglement.

A number of things though caused the War of 1812

1) Violations of the American Sovereignty by Great Britain..
a) Impressments – Imprisonment or kidnapping of U.S. citizens and merchant marines on the open sea
b) Interference with American shipping and trade
c) Britain's refusal to turn over western forts promised to them at the end of the American Revolution, thus supporting the Native-American resistance.
2) American expansionism. Conquering of Great Britain's Canadian colonies to get them off of North America for good.
3) Growing Presence in U.S. politics of War Hawks
a) War Hawks led by Henry Clay
b) Asked for a declaration of war against Great Britain as a response to the grievances listed above and for the chance to take over the British Canadian colonies.

There were four theatres of operation during the war.
1) The Atlantic Ocean
2) The Great Lakes and the Canadian frontier
3) The coast of the United States
4) The Southern states

With the British ships outnumbering the United States vessels, the goal of the British was to protect their own merchant ships to and from Canada while cutting off the American supply line, thus interrupting the U.S. trade and economy. Although there were numerous battles over the two plus years of war, there were six strategic wars in these theatres of operation.

1) British Navy blockades the American Coast by 1813.

Although the American Navy was outnumbered and not as highly trained, they had early success in capturing a number of British frigates. With that, the British sent more ships and tightened the blockade by June 1813,

"Era of Good Feelings,"
In the 1800’s following the war of 1812, the term commonly applied to that era in the United States was known as the “era of good feelings”. While the United States was growing in several different aspects, such as politically, socially and economically, and changing as a country, there are several key factors that denote this term, and nullify its meaning. While the changes were significant, and the United States evolved at an exponential rate after the war of 1812, the accuracy of the term “era of good feelings” is way off, and the United States was anything but experiencing an “era of good feelings”.

By any criteria the years following the War of 1812, otherwise known as the "Era of Good Feelings," must be considered a time of exceptional growth and development in the United States, but above all, it may be considered a time of evolution and ripening of American nationalism, unification, and economic prowess. The war of 1812 was a very problematic war. States did not fulfill their duties, while commanders and leaders were not informed or supplied enough to keep up the war. But what awakened during this time and afterwards is something much greater then victory. The war wasn't just about Britain holding land and impressing American sailors into their navy; it was a second war of independence. It was the first war as a united country, and it was a small new nation against a large European empire. That we survived woke us up, and let us know that we did have a nation. For the first time, we were united, not for a fight of our homes and freedoms, but for ideals (The Awakening of American Nationalism, AAN).

The war of 1812 began long before war was declared. It began right after the war of Independence. The British were not too fond of us breaking away from their empire, and they soon figured out that many revolts were because we had fought and won. They taxed our merchants, and hassled our ships, but they crossed the line when they began to impress our sailors into their navy. They claimed that these people had "deserted" the royal navy and should be given back. Though they may have been right on a few occasions, it has been proven that many innocent people were forced to be in the royal navy.

On June 22, 1807, the English frigate Leopard attacked the United States frigate Chesapeake, and took from her certain of her sailors who, the Leopard's captain claimed, were British citizens. (John K. Mahon, The War of 1812) This is what broke the straw on the proverbial camel's back. economic interaction.

Following the war of 1812, growth occurred primarily economically, politically, and socially for the United States. These changes indicated symbolize development, expansion of both land and industry, and a sense of unifying nationalism within the citizens of the United States. Although Nationalism seemed to unify the nation, there was more of an underlying indication of a much larger problem, Sectionalism. Sectionalism is a relation to a geographic area. So whereas people could have felt patriotic towards the United States, they related more towards the region they lived in and not the country they were a part of. This sectionalism also indicates a difference in the economic, social and political stances of regions such as the North and the South, and the “era of good feelings” continued to simply widen that gap.

Economically, the United States was experiencing growth. But looking further into sectionalism, there are two completely different growths present in the northern United States and the Southern United States. In the north, following the war of 1812, a rapid expansion occurred in the industry of the north. Technological advances such as the textile mills, and factory workers and the increase in the amount of factories in the North helped create a gap in the economy of the north itself.
After the war of 1812, America underwent some changes as a nation. In comparison to the country prior to the war, the United States initially appeared to be more united in the sense that only one party ruled, but in reality, this only increased factions within the government due to sectionalism and the court.
Because the United States emerged as a one party nation after the War of 1812, members of past parties, such as the Federalists, felt the need to join with the Jeffersonians to maintain their competitiveness in the government. Evidently, this meant that many members within the Jeffersonian party began to hold differing political viewpoints. Thus, what the Jeffersonians originally represented became irrelevant and the true values of the party were obliterated. Basically, the party was meaningless and political unity was only superficial. For instance, Henery Clay was considered a Jeffersonian during this time, but he was in favor of building roads with the use of tax dollars, which wasnot a traditional Jeffersonian belief. Where politicians came from also had a huge influence on their views. Those from the South favored the use of slaves while those from the North opposed it. When it came to deciding whether incoming states would be free or slave states, conflict arose. The Southern states were concerned that if another free state was added, that their candidates would be more likely to lose elections, and vice versa. Finally, the Missouri compromise was brought about which physically drew a line through the country at 36 30. All states above would be free, and all below would be slave states. Cleary, this led to a severe case of sectionalism; the country was divided amongst slave states and free states. With such sectional differences, unity was impossible, despite the fact that only Jeffersonians existed.