In the years after it won independence, the United States grew quickly, pushing its borders west and sending its merchant ships far overseas to trade. But on June 18, 1812, less than thirty years after the Revolution, the United States found itself once again at war with Britain. What could have been so important to cause the fledgling American state to take on a country that was then one of the world's greatest powers?
In this dramatic account of a near-forgotten time in American history, Peter I. Bosco portrays the frictions and follies that led to the War of 1812 and recounts the events of the war itself. The history of the war unfolds with tales of heroism and victory-and of failure and defeat. Here are the dramatic stories of "Old Ironsides" and the fight for the high seas; of Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief who tried to build a united Indian confederation only to meet death during the war; of the burning of Washington, D.C.; and of the war's dramatic finale at the Battle of New Orleans.
In the end, the War of 1812 brought tangible gains to neither side. But by settling issues that had led to conflict, it freed the United States for a long period of prosperity and expansion.
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