The War of 1812 was a military conflict, lasting for two and a half years, fought by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its North American colonies, and its Native American allies. Seen by the United States and Canada as a war in its own right, it is frequently seen in Europe as a theatre of the Napoleonic Wars, as it was caused by issues related to that war (especially the Continental System). The war resolved many issues which remained from the American Revolutionary War but involved no boundary changes. The United States declared war on June 18, 1812, for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of US merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support for Native American tribes against European American expansion, outrage over insults to national honor after humiliations on the high seas, and possible US interest in annexing British territory in modern-day Canada.[4]

The war was fought in three principal theatres. Firstly, at sea, warships and privateers of each side attacked the other's merchant ships, while the British blockaded the Atlantic coast of the United States and mounted large raids in the later stages of the war. Secondly, land and naval battles were fought on the US–Canadian frontier, which ran along the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River, and the northern end of Lake Champlain. Thirdly, the Southern United States and Gulf Coast also saw big land battles, in which US forces defeated Britain's Native American allies and a British invasion force at New Orleans. At the end of the war both sides signed the Treaty of Ghent and both parties returned occupied land to its pre-war owner and resumed friendly trade relations.

DuffleMuffin