War of 1812, Part 45: Final Thoughts on the War of 1812

The New Nation
Written by Tom Hand

The United States was less than four decades old when it declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812, over two maritime issues: Great Britain’s Orders in Council, which violated the trading privileges of neutral nations like the United States, and the impressment of American sailors on the high seas by the Royal Navy. The war was a relatively inexpensive affair, with an estimated cost of $80 million. And the number of Americans killed and wounded over the course of the thirty-month war was roughly 5,000 men, less than the number of Union casualties in one hour during the Civil War’s Battle of Cold Harbor.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the lessons learned during the War of 1812 and the resulting patriotic reawakening in the hearts of Americans, and how this helped shape our nation’s history.

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Images courtesy of the National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command, National Gallery of Art, U.S. Senate, Brown University Library, USS Constitution Museum, Wikimedia.

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Tom Hand
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War of 1812, Part 44: The Treaty of Ghent