War of 1812: Quick Facts
News •
Passing the torch: World’s oldest floating warship gets new commander on Boston Harbor
• Oct. 22, 2026, 6:01 PM ET (Boston Herald)
Facts
| Date | June 12, 1812 - December 24, 1814 |
|---|---|
| Location | Canada • United States |
| Participants | United Kingdom • United States |
Did You Know?
- The Brirish captured Fort Mackinac in Michigan because its commander, Porter Hanks, wasn't informed that the war had begun.
- Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner after an American victory and borrowed the melody from an English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven".
- Americans suffered more causalties from diseases and accidents than from combat.
- "Remember the Raisin" was an American battlecry dedicated to a military loss at River Raisin.
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Related Topics and References
Topics
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Timeline
Battle of Queenston Heights
October 13, 1812
Battle of Lake Erie
September 10, 1813
Battle of the Thames
October 5, 1813
Battle of Châteauguay
October 26, 1813
Battle of Crysler’s Farm
November 11, 1813
Battle of Chippewa
July 5, 1814
Battle of Lundy’s Lane
July 25, 1814
Battle of Baltimore
September 12, 1814 - September 14, 1814
Battle of New Orleans
January 8, 1815
Key People
James Madison
president of United States
Tecumseh
Shawnee chief
Zachary Taylor
president of United States
Samuel Smith
American politician
Jacob Jennings Brown
United States general
David Porter
United States naval officer
Henry Dearborn
American army officer and politician
Isaac Hull
United States naval officer
Sir George Prevost, 1st Baronet
British governor in chief of Canada
Stephen Decatur
United States naval officer
Stephen Girard
American financier
William Hull
American soldier
Thomas Macdonough
United States naval officer
Jacob Jones
United States naval officer
John Armstrong
American diplomat
William Bainbridge
United States naval officer
Thomas Pinckney
American soldier, politician, and diplomat
James Lawrence
United States naval officer
Laura Secord
Canadian loyalist
Causes and Effects
Causes
- Export and import restrictions between the U.S. and Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars hurt the American economy
- Skirmishes with Native Americans and British soldiers on the northwestern border of the U.S.
- The practice during the Napoleonic Wars of the British Navy accosting American merchant ships and seizing alleged deserters who were actually U.S. citizens
Effects
- Britain's influence among the northwestern Indians ended, leading to unchecked American expansion into that region
- Canada remained British and eventually developed its own national identity, partly from pride over repulsing U.S. invasions
- Despite the U.S. achieving none of its objectives during the war, a surge of post-war patriotism inspired American to pursue national goals
- The arbitration clauses in the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war established methods for dealing with outstanding disagreements that could be adapted to changes in both American and British governments, sowing the seeds of the lasting Anglo-American comity
- U.S. victory in the concurrent Creek War opened a large part of the American south for settlement, leading to events that persuaded Spain to cede Florida to the U.S. in 1821
