American Nation Identity essays

American Nation Identity essays Historians disagreed over the motives behind the American decision for war with England in 1812. They believed that the role of the young western congressmens speeches about a war program was unsuccessful and they defended that it would vindicate the national honor. In this essay , first I want to mention a brief summary of the events which were happened before war of 1812, then I am going to discuss the comments on the leaders( Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun) thoughts about American national honor. Before the war of 1812, The United States attempted to change the policies of the European powers by economic means. In 1807, after the British ship Leopard fired on the American frigate Chesapeake, President Thomas Jefferson urged and Congress passed an embargo act that banned all American ships from foreign trade. However, the embargo failed to change British and French policies, yet it devastated New England shipping. Weaker economic measures were also unsuccessful. They failed in peaceful efforts and they faced an economic depression, as a result of this, some Americans began to argue for a declaration of war to redeem the national honor. The Congress was elected in 1810 and a group met in November 1811 who was known as the War Hawks and who demanded war against Great Britain. These men were all Democratic-Republicans and mostly from the West and South. These leaders were John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Felix Grundy of Tennessee. They argued that A merican honor could be saved and British policies changed by an invasion of Canada. On the other hand, the Federalist Party represented New England shippers who foresaw the ruination of their trade, opposed war. In Henry Clays document, he talks about that commerce, character, a nations best treasure, honor. He defended their revenue is decreased by the operation of the belligerent edicts and he said that accord ...