Position:Home>History> What might have happened if the War of 1812 hadn't been fought?

The war didn't decide much!. It did launch the career of Andrew Jackson; perhaps he wouldn't have become president!.
The issue of impressement would have died of its own, since war between France and GB is really what drove that issue anyway!.
The White House wouldn't have been burned!.
This war was a success for the American navy!. Teddy Roosevelt wouldn't have written such an important book about the early Am!. navy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The war was inevitable!. Meaning, if it didn't happen in 1812, Manifest Destiny (which was an American claim that all of North America would become part of the USA) would have grown in the minds of Americans and they would have attacked Canada because of it (Manifest Destiny was just a small part of the reason for that war)!. Maybe Americans would have won a later war, but I doubt it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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if the war didn't happen then Canada would probably be apart of America because the American believed in Manifest Destiny at the time, which basically means take what ever you can find!. Luckily the British who were in control of Canada could fight them off, so that the American nation couldn't continue its imperialistic ways!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The War of 1812 made the United States grow up some!. Great Britain was the bully on the Ocean, impressing sailors, and limiting trade with Europe with their blockade!. The US was fighting for both legitimacy, seen by some as a second revolution, and for freedom of the seas!. The war taught us that we needed to maintain a more professional standing army and not rely on local volunteer militias alone!. This had been a point of contention between the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist; the former stressing the need and the later afraid of military dictatorship!. By winning the War of 1812, a strong feeling of nationalism arose that lasted for a generation!. The US focused on building it self up as a result of nearly losing the war!. The War gained us respect among the European powers!. But IMO, the most important result of that War was the foreign policy that would be adopted by the next President - James Monroe!. Monroe's doctrine, which stated that the US would be defender of the new republics of Latin American and intervention by Europe would be seen as a threat, had an ironic twist!. At that point in time, the US could hardly back such a policy!. Great Britain however was building trade relations with these new republics and therefore, found it in their best interest to back the US policy!. So, the country that we just fought a war with became an unofficial ally!. This lead to a reconciliation that has lasted ever since between the US and Great Britain!. This is why we were allies in both world wars, and why the US and Canada (British colony) have the longest unguarded border in the world!. This is why English-speaking countries of the world are all democracies and allied with one another!.

So if the war had never happened, maybe none of the good that came from it would have happened either!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Nothing really!. Britain would have stopped impressing our sailors after the Napoleonic wars ended a few years later, and that was the only reason we declared war on them in the first place!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Francis Scott Key would not have written "The Star-Spangled Banner" and we would have a different national anthem, perhaps one that most of us could actually sing! ;-)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The World would be even more over populated than it is now!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Who can say!? Any answer would be pure speculation and have no real value!. Heck, I don't even remember what it was about!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The most noticeable thing I can think of was that Francis Scott Key would never write his most important work!. Key was a lawyer who happened to be on a British ship during the British assault on Fort McHenry that was holding prisoners of war so as to defend one of his clients!. Everyone on the ship wasn't to leave during the assault!. That night Key got to watch the British shelling of the fort and in the morning he saw the fort's flag still flying defiantly!. The sight inspired him to write a simple poem about the attack entitled "Defence of Ft McHenry!."

The poem was later that same year put to the tune of a British drinking song from the 1760s, "To Anacreon in Heaven!." This was followed by newspapers printing it with the instructions that it was to be played to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven!." Quite fittingly it was first publicly played in Baltimore (fittingly due to both where the poem was written and where Fort McHenry is located) that October!. As the century progressed the song, already becoming popular before it's first public preformance, kept becoming more and more popular and was being played in parades and other public events!. In 1889 the Secretary of the Navy issued a General Order instructing the song be played whenever the national flag was raised!. 1916 President Wilson ordered it played at military and other events where it might be deemed appropriate!. Robert Ripley of Ripley's Believe or Not Fame pointed out that the US didn't have a national anthem in 1929 which led John Philip Sousa two years later to push Key's poem turn song as the principle choice!. In March of 1931 President Hoover signed into law a bill making Key's work the national anthem!.

And what was it!? Well, if you don't already know that "The Star Spangled Banner" is the US national anthem then you do now!. But just imagine if Key had never written that poem or had never shown it to his brother-in-law, a judge who realized "Defence of Ft McHenry" actually fit "To Anacreon in Heaven!." I've heard of some folks thinking the nathional anthem is "My Country Tis of Thee" or "America the Beautiful!." Perhaps either one would have become the national anthem had there been no War of 1812!. Or perhaps "Hail, Columbia," which had been used as the unofficial national anthem since first used for George Washington's first innaguration (in fact Philip Phile had written the music for Washington's innaguration), would have been made the offical national anthem!.

Another difference, Dolley Madison probably wouldn't have really become a name!. In fact she might only be noticed when people started looking into who each president's First Lady was!. But when the British were marching on the Capital Dolley Madison managed to save important national treasures, including a painting of George Washington by Glibert Stuart!. This moved her beyond the typical First Lady and made her something of a national hero!. She became the woman who ensured these items weren't looted or destroyed by the British troops!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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