4 - Claiming theHemisphere

Summary

Taylor sees four intertwined dimensions to the Civil War of 1812. First, a struggle between Loyalists and Americans for control of the new province of Upper Canada. Second, the efforts of Irish immigrants to the United States, many of them recent, to continue their ongoing struggle against British colonialism, this time in Canada under the American flag. Third, the involvement of Native American tribes on both sides of the conflict, pursuing their individual agendas, often against other Indians. Fourth, an intense domestic partisanship that spilled into outright treason as some members of the Federalist party served as spies and smugglers for the British. The War of 1812 stands as an important victory for the American Empire. The return of peace and the end of the high seas controversies caused by the Napoleonic Wars did much to change the national mood after 1815. James Monroe is the least renowned of the three Virginians elected to the presidency between 1800 and 1820.