"Don't Give Up the Ship" The Role of the War of 1812 in Forging the United States

In the decades following the War of Independence, the United States found itself a minor power in a dangerous world.  Tensions with Britain and France over shipping rights and Britain’s impressment of sailors culminated in HMS Leopard’s attack on USS Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia and the impressment of 3 American sailors.  Britain and France also issued numerous decrees that interfered with neutral trade, effectively closing European ports to US ships.  President Jefferson retaliated with the Embargo Act and the Non-Intercourse Act, both of which further hurt the US economy.  Resentment of the British was further fueled by belief that Native American raids on frontier settlements were encouraged and supported by the British in Canada.  Unaware, due to the slowness of communication, that the British Parliament had repealed the Orders in Council and normalized trade relations with the United States, President James Madison declared war on Great Britain 200-years ago, on June 18, 1812.

Connecticut, and Stonington in particular, played an important role in the resulting conflict.  Did U.S. citizens support this war?   Who were the winners and losers in this war? What was its impact?

SHYC member Michael Wiseman has a longstanding interest in maritime history and is a Trustee of the U. S. Naval Institute Foundation and of the Archaeological Institute of America. Please join us for his presentation on how one of America’s most unpopular and least successful conflicts helped forge the United States.  He will discuss the political forces at play before and during the war, the war’s role in the development of U.S. sea power, and how the second American war with Britain has been viewed over the years as the United States has evolved into a Superpower.

Presented by Michael Wiseman
SHYC Member and Trustee of the U.S. Naval Institute Foundation

5:00pm - 6:00pm Presentation and Discussion

Admission: Members $5.00     Non-members $10.00

Please R.S.V.P. to Caroline Pierce at 860-535-0112 or office@shyc.us by January 16.