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UNIT I:
The World of 1812 * * * Getting Your Bearings / Background * * * !
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In 1812, the Napoleonic Wars that engulfed much of the European continent had been raging almost continuously for nearly 20 years and trade was disrupted. America had at first benefited economically from the war because of its neutrality. By 1812, however, efforts to maintain both their neutrality and a prosperous maritime economy had backfired and Americans were finding it increasingly difficult to stay out of the war. Since the Revolutionary War, Great Britain had challenged America’s sovereignty, on land and on sea. Britain disputed American land claims, and supported Native American resistance. Her trade restrictions hurt the economy. On the sea, Britain seized American seamen, ships, and cargo. Americans resented this lack of respect for their new nation. Many called for war to avenge the country’s honor. In 1812, the population of the United States of America was barely seven million people. Many people settled in cities along the East Coast. Others settled in agricultural towns nearby. Five thousand people lived in Pittsburgh, the city nearest to Erie, 125 miles to the south. In 1812, women, people of color, and even white men without property had fewer liberties than did white men of wealth. The geographic size of the nation had doubled in size with the addition of the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, 1803. The Industrial Revolution that had so radically transformed life in Europe was taking hold in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region. In the South slavery was entrenched as the “peculiar institution” that would tear succeeding generations of Americans apart. The nation was only one generation removed from the war of independence. The people of 1812 were more likely to think of themselves as Pennsylvanians or Kentuckians than Americans. True nationhood would come with the Civil War. It took a person on horseback three or four days to travel from Pittsburgh to Erie. The cavalry figured 35 miles a day as sustainable in good weather. Established in 1795, the town of Erie (sometimes still referred to by the French name for the area, Presque Isle) boasted 500 residents. Typical of most frontier communities, Erie had a tannery, a blacksmith, a few general stores, and a sawmill at the mouth of Mill Creek (hence the name), but not even a church yet.