History of the United States I / Unit 8 USH1 1103 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Causes of the War
The idea
The anchor gives five causes together. Impressment of American sailors. British support for Native resistance to westward expansion. British arms supplied to the Western Confederacy. Seizure of American merchant ships. And repeated diplomatic failure across two decades. The war is often called the Second War of American Independence.
In practice
Grievances at sea and grievances on the frontier arriving as a single case for war.
Where people slip
Notice which sections of the country held which grievance. The maritime states suffered impressment and opposed the war. The western states wanted the frontier cleared and demanded it. A war fought over sailors was driven by men from Kentucky and South Carolina, and voted against by the shipping interest it was supposed to protect. That mismatch between who suffered the grievance and who demanded the war is examinable, and it is what produces the Hartford Convention in entry 1107.
Your place on the trail
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