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Example research essay topic: British North America Royal Navy - 908 words

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The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States took place against the global backdrop of the long struggle between Britain, with a shifting series of European allies, and the French and European empire of Napoleon. In the first decade of the 1800 s each side forbade neutral nations to trade with the other side, but only the British with the dominant Royal Navy could impose these restrictions upon a burgeoning American merchant marine which was beginning to trade worldwide. In addition to their search for contraband, the British stopped American ships to remove sailors whom they regarded as British subjects and, always desperate for trained manpower in the long wars with France, pressed them into service in the Royal Navy. Some British captains were not careful to ensure that these seamen were in fact British rather than American citizens. The United States and Britain came to the brink of war in 1807 when the British ship HMS Leopard stopped the American frigate USS Chesapeake just outside American territorial waters. When the American vessel refused to be inspected, the British fired into the frigate, boarded it and removed four seamen whom the British captain claimed to be deserters.

Although the British apologized, they did not end their stop and search practices. During the same years the Americans came increasingly into conflict with both the British and the Native people living in the "Old Northwest" of the Ohio and upper Mississippi watersheds. Britain did not initially surrender such western posts as Fort Niagara, Detroit and Fort Michilimackinac to the Americans as required by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the American Revolution. First Nations in this region, who regularly gathered at these posts to trade, looked to the British to assist them to stem the encroaching tide of American settlement, but substantive help was not forthcoming. Nevertheless, expansionist "War Hawks" in the U.

S. Congress accused the British of aiding the Native people. In June 1812, President James Madison declared war, convinced that this was the only way to bring pressure upon the British to address the Americans' maritime grievances and to appease the "War Hawks. " Nothing happened for a month, until American Brigadier General William Hull crossed the Detroit River to occupy the far western Upper Canada outpost village of Sandwich. At the beginning of the nineteenth century British North America was a collection of separate colonies or provinces - Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, St.

John's Island (Prince Edward Island) and Newfoundland - united only by having a single governor general. With the exception of funds voted by the colonial legislatures for local defence, foreign relations and defence were British responsibilities. The Governor-in-Chief of British North America, Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, and the colonial lieutenant-governors were the effective military commanders and makers of local strategy. A shortage of British regular soldiers and the need for maritime control of the Great Lakes meant that British North American commanders had to adopt a primarily defensive strategy for the first two years of the war. Napoleon's defeat and abdication in early 1814 allowed Britain to transfer more of its troops from Europe to North America. While negotiations to end the war continued, both sides launched offensives that, while unsuccessful for both, involved the heaviest fighting of the war.

The war affected the various regions of British North America quite differently. Because the New England states generally opposed the war, the Maritimes quickly reached a peaceful arrangement with the Americans. The British colonies served chiefly as bases for the Royal Navy's blockade of the American seaboard and for privateering voyages against American merchant shipping. At the outset of war, Upper Canada consisted of a loose collection of villages scattered between Cornwall and Amherstburg.

Most of the settlers were subsistence farmers who grew wheat, raised livestock, and distilled whiskey when they found the time. A substantial portion of the population were Loyalist refugees who had fled to Canada during the American Revolution. Many more were recent American immigrants who had been lured to Upper Canada by the promise of cheap land. These new arrivals did not consider themselves British, and as far as they were concerned, the term "Canadian" referred to their French neighbours.

Evidently, most Upper Canadian settlers did not feel especially patriotic towards British North America. Sir George Prevost, commander of the British forces in Canada estimated that the militia in Upper Canada had a potential strength of 11, 000. It is interesting to note that he also warned it "might not be prudent to arm more than 4000. " Major General Isaac Brock, the political and military commander of Upper Canada, was also acutely aware of the American presence in this region. In February of 1812, Brock asked the Upper Canadian legislature to adopt certain preparatory measures for war. The legislature voted for some of his proposals, but a pro-American faction sensitive to civil rights quashed Brock's request for the power to suspend habeas corpus (detention without trial) and a partial exercise of martial law. While most Upper Canadian settlers might not have been enthusiastically pro-British, they certainly didn't welcome an American invasion.

When General William Hull stormed into Upper Canada with a proclamation stating that the American forces were going to emancipate the locals "from tyranny and oppression", Upper Canadian settlers were amazed. After all, most settlers were comfortably ensconced in their new homes and felt no need to be liberated.


Free research essays on topics related to: british north america, general william, american revolution, royal navy, upper canada

Research essay sample on British North America Royal Navy

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