After the American Revolution, Britain still didn’t really respect that the United States was a separate nation. They still attempted to impose certain restrictions on the United States that they had no right whatsoever to do. For example, Britain attempted to restrict trade between the United States and France. This was not Britain’s problem in any way, shape or form. In many ways, this was just Britain disrespecting the US. The War of 1812 was the United States further distinguishing themselves from Britain, and proving to the rest of the world that they could hold their own, and weren’t just a weak county. The War of 1812 is often called the Second War for American Independence, or the Second American Revolution because of this. Had Britain won this war, the United States would have been annexed back into the British Empire, and would likely have resulted in a very different world than the one we live in today.
The Americans had many problems with the British between the Revolution and the War of 1812. One of these was that the British forced American sailors into the British Royal Navy unlawfully. They would capture American ships and force the people on board to work for the British Navy. They also attempted to restrict trade with France like I previously mentioned, and also gave arms to Native Americans so that they would resist the further settlement of America by the whites.
Thomas Jefferson tried to resist these things, but he had not succeeded by the time that his term ended and James Madison took over his place as president. Men called the War Hawks were people who wanted war. They also saw that there was a high probability of being able to expand the country North into Canada (a British colony at that time) or into Florida (a Spanish colony at that time). Madison did not want to fight a war, but between the War Hawks and the disrespect from the English, war became inevitable. In June of 1812, the United States declared war on Britain.
During the majority of the War of 1812, the British were also fighting Napoleon. When Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, the British became able to focus their full attention on the Americans. The British troops were still the best in the world, and they also had the largest navy of all the nations. The moment they weren’t occupied with the French army, the British army burned down the new American Capital of Washington D.C. The White House was among many of the building burnt, but since it was made of brick, it just turned black. The White House was then painted white, and that is how it got its name. Even though the British burned part of the city, it still flew American colors. The Star Spangled Banner was actually written by an American prisoner on a British Ship during the burning of Washington D.C., and it later became the national anthem of the Untied States.
Only a few more battles occurred before the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty returned everything to the way it was before, except that Britain now respected the Americans much more than before, and committed fewer illegal acts against the Americans. The War of 1812 firmly established the United States as a nation that could hold its own against other nations, and so they began to be respected as such.