The Sunshine State

The problem was with Spain, yes indeed, the Spanish. The Spanish had control over Florida and the Americans wanted to move to Florida, after all, it is the Sunshine State. Other than wanting to move there, the Americans were also having problems with the Seminole Indians, they raided U.S. settlements and such.

When you have a problem with Indians, who do you send in? Well, Andrew Jackson of course. They camped right across the US/Spanish boarder and starred at each other.



Eventually, Jackson and his troops crossed over into Florida and captured some Semionels. While he was there he figured an overthrow would be a great idea. He also took it upon himself to execute 2 Britsh people that he thought were helping the Seminole Indians.

This didn't go over well with the Spanish & the British. They were shocked and appalled.




Since Jackson was already in Florida and he could do whatever he wants, the Spanish decided that a treaty would be the best way to handle this situation.

The Adams-Onis Treaty gave the U.S. Florida and in return, the U.S. gave up its claims on Texas [50].


[50] Yah...for now..hehehehehe

The Era of Good Feelings

After the war was over, a new president came in, his name was James Monroe. This was known as the era of good feelings.



Even though the war was over, there were still a few issues with Canada that needed to be addressed. These issues were with the Great Lakes.



Also...



The Rush-Bagot Agreement took care of these problems. They decided to limit navies on the lakes and set boundaries for fishing. The Canadians and the Americans hugged it out, and all was well...except for in the South and a little place known as Florida....

Battle of New Orleans

On a foggy morning in January of 1815 the British started marching towards the Americans. They were lucky because the fog was covering them...well, until the fog cleared.



The Americans started shooting and a half a hour later, 2000 British were dead. Jackson was a war hero, and the celebration began.


But, then they figured out that the War of 1812 was actually over 2 weeks before the Battle of New Orleans. The war actually ended in December with the Treaty of Ghent. So, who won the war? No one really. Both countries were exhausted and just decided to call it quits.

The good aspect was that the US stood up to the British, the United States now had some mad street cred.

Oh Say Can You See...

After the British torched the White House they went to Baltimore. In Baltimore they were et by American troops at Fort McHenry. The British slammed them hard, but the U.S. did not give up.



This was also when Francis Scott Key was a prisoner on a British Ship and watched the fight. He was so moved the next morning when he looked out and the American flag was still there. He decided this would be a good opportunity to get a little artsy and write a poem.



I'll give you a nickle if you figure out what song his poem became...

Meanwhile....

The British were also attacking in the South at New Orleans to try and gain control of the Mississippi River.

What was waiting for the British in New Orleans was none other than Andrew Jackson...

Burning Down the House

Things were about to get a bit intense when the British ended up invading American. Where should they go first? How about Washington D.C....

President James Madison was away from the White House when the British showed up. The British entered the White House and as story would go, ate a lot of the food. After they were full they decided that the that the White House should probably be burned down.



Luckily, before the British entered the White House and burned it down, Dolly Madison, James' wife, ran in and took George Washington's portrait off the wall. Good Work Dolly Madison.

Oliver Hazard Perry and the Fall of Tecumseh :(

Things were not going that great for the Americans with the exception of one man. This guy is completely awesome and he delivered. Oliver Hazard Perry [48] defeated the British on Lake Erie. His boat was destroyed and his men were dead, but he kept on keeping on. Covered in blood he said, "I have seen the enemy, and they are ours" [49]

After Perry's badassery, it was decided to go after the British and the Indians. The U.S., British, and Indians ended up butting heads at the Thames River.

This battle brought William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh back together again. This was not a happy reunion considering what happened with Tecumseh's brother an all.

There was fighting and casualties and in the end, the US had control of the Northwest. The Americans were pumped.

Also, as a result of this battle, Tecumseh was dead. This was a huge blow to the Native Americans.




Meanwhile, in Tennessee, a man by the name of Andrew Jackson had just gotten out of jail after a bar fight and heard the news about the Creek Indians attacking soldiers and settlers in Alabama. He decided to head on south and kill him some Indians. And that is what Jackson would do.


[48] Seriously, Hazard, how cool is that?
[49] How awesome?

The Beginning of the War of 1812

In 1811 some politicians came to Congress, they were called War Hawks, they wanted war against Britain. Britain was taking US sailors and helping the Native Americans. The answer of what to do next was clear....Canada.




They wanted to invade Canada to get Great Britain out of North America and restore honor to America!!! (F Yah).

The War Hawks wanted war and war was what they got. The war of 1812 had begun.

The U.S. wasn't exactly prepared for this and they also severely underestimated the British. It wasn't pretty.



The idea was to march into Canada, surely a country with millions could take on a country of thousands. Why even waste time in getting a professional army? State militia would do just fine. Oh how they were wrong.

The British and Native Americans pretty much dominated them.

Things are brewing in the West

The British were still being jerks, the Native Americans in the West were not happy, and this was not a good combination.




In the West were two brothers, Tenskwatawa, "The Prophet", and Tecumseh, he was more of a warrior. These brothers were upset because the US kept violating treaties so Tecumseh and his brother thought it would be a good idea to try and unite the Indian nations. This made sense because the US were not the best neighbors, actually, very horrible ones. Tecumseh went south to talk to some different tribes. While he was away William Henry Harrison marched in some troops to Prophetstown where Tenskwatawa lived. The Prophet told his people not to fear. They would be protected and the bullets could not pierce their skin.....

Sadly, this didn't work out. Many died including Tenskwatawa and the town was burned. This was known as the Battle of Tippecanoe which Harrison would later use as part of a campaign slogan. Because slaughtering Indians qualifies you to be a great president.

The British need to get out of our Business..

There was some trouble brewing with Great Britain [47]. Great Britian was using the concept of impressment...



This type of impressment was taking American sailors from American ships and forcing them into the British Navy.


This wasn't cool, at all. It became even more uncool when the British attacked the Chesapeake war ship. Many Americans were outraged.



Jefferson decided an embargo would be just the thing for this situation. So trade was suspended, he figured this would show the British what was up. Instead, they went elsewhere to get goods. Dang.

Well people started losing jobs and money. Jefferson knew he was wrong so he lifted the embargo and retired. Next up to bat for the presidency....James Madison. This guy had a whole slew of things to deal with.

[47] *eye roll*

The Louisiana Purchase

Have you ever been to New Orleans? Was it fun? What did you do there? That's nice. Did you know that it was Thomas Jefferson who acquired New Orleans?! Well, its true! Jefferson purchased some land off of Napoleon Bonaparte. This was called the Louisiana Purchase. This was the land west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. He doubled the size of the United States!

But Jefferson was troubled. He always said the federal government should be limited and the Constitution should be followed and it said nothing about buying land. *GASP*




But the land was only $15 million, and that was a sweet deal, so he went for it. Was this hypocritical? Maybe, but there is always the elastic clause to fall back on, and besides....it really was a sweet deal.

To find out what was in this territory he went Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore. They had help from Sacajawea who would later be featured on a dollar coin.