American War Hawks, Led by Henry Clay, Push for war with Britain, a totally unnecessary conflict.

Michael Streich 

In 1812 America was anything but a unity of happy states moving toward becoming a continental power. The Louisiana Purchase had opened new lands to feed the insatiable westward movement. Enticing European immigrants and depopulating America’s Northeast, the movement displaced Native cultures, some of which were still aligned with British forces in Canada. The British seized the opportunity to turn the natives against  American frontier settlements. Most of the newly acquired lands were agriculturally oriented and the settlers had no love of Britain, unlike the Northeast cities like Boston whose survival depended on European trade.

 

Many Causes of the War of 1812

 

There were many causes of the 1812 War but the greatest blame rests with a few vocal members of Congress known as “War Hawks” as well as a blundering foreign policy that left no room for negotiation. At issue were a number of grievances affecting American trade as Great Britain and Napoleonic France attempted to interdict commerce in order to weaken each other. Additionally, the British stirred up Native Americans in an attempt to harass westward moving settlers.

 

British ships illegally stopped American vessels, seizing sailors, accusing them of being British navy deserters. This policy of “impressments” was egregious, violating the sovereignty of the new nation. Even as the Napoleonic Wars were slowly ending in Europe, British upper classes supported strong action in America, viewing the United States as an upstart nation, if a “nation” at all.

 

The War Hawks of 1812

 

In America, there were several influential politicians determined to put a final end to British strong-arm tactics advocating American expansion into Canada. The very first military ventures would be aimed at “taking Canada.” These vocal war hawks represented the Southeast and the emerging new states that were being carved out of the Louisiana Purchase. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina and House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky led the faction calling for war with Great Britain.

 

One of the primary causes of the war were the British Orders in Council, placing severe restrictions on American shipping. Ships were seized and their cargoes confiscated. This caused insurance rates for shippers to spiral and resulted in numerous congressional measures designed to force an end to both British and French actions. By 1812, however, the Napoleonic wars were ending and the British repealed the Orders in Council.

 

The repeal came too late. The congressional war hawks pressured President Madison into a war declaration which was passed before word of the British repeal reached Washington City. Contributing toward the failure of diplomacy was the lack of any senior American envoy in London.

 

The Contemporary War Hawk Label

 

The term “war hawks” is still used today to characterize those advocating war as an appropriate response in conflict situation. The contemporary Arab Spring, for example, continues to elicit American responses in terms of military intervention. This was true in Libya and is true in the current Syrian civil war. Senators like South Carolina Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain have been labeled war hawks by colleagues and critics.

 

Grace Wyler, writing in the My 18, 2013 Business Insider, refers to McCain [as] “a staunch foreign policy hawk.” A similar observation was made by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul during his recent filibuster concerning drone warfare. Done warfare, along with cruise missiles, may be the perfect replacement for “boots on the ground.” Hawks have always been used in hunting and ironically, a new drone under development in Germany by Northrop Grumman is dubbed “Euro Hawk.”

 

War Hawks Prey on Reality

 

War with Britain in 1812 was caused, in part, by the words and actions of war hawks like Clay and Calhoun despite lack of national spirit or preparation. The previous Jefferson administration cut defense spending, relying on the militia and few seasoned officers. Historian Page Smith comments, “It is a gross error to fight a new war with the heroes of an older one.” The war changed no boundaries, left the new nation deep in debt, and exacerbated sectional disunity. The nation’s capital, Washington City, was a smoldering ruins. Clay and Calhoun, however, emerged on a path that would make them among the most celebrated politicians in the pre-Civil War years. 

 

In 1812 war hawks used both political ends and popular opinion to achieve their results. Whether an appeal to nationalism, the so-called “romance” of a war fought for a good cause, or the post modern impersonal nature of conflicts as characterized by drones, war hawks compromise diplomacy, hardly viewing militarism as a last resort and as the last necessary part of an overall grand strategy. If 1812 is a case study, then how many other wars might have been avoided by means other than military action.

 

Resources

 

Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. (1989). Chicago: University of Illinois Press).

Smith, Page. The Shaping of America: A People’s History of the Young Republic. (1980). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Wyler, Grace. IT‘S War: John McCain and Lindsey Graham Just Ripped Into Rand Paul On The Senate Floor. (March 7, 2013). Business Insider. Accessed May 18, 2013.

(Copyright of this article is owned by Michael Streich. And reprints require written person; Article originally published in Decoded Past)