Before There Was a Vietnam War Protest, We Had a War of 1812 Protest

From the History Site.

The first war to be declared by the United States, the War of 1812,  sparked one of the strongest anti-war movements in American history.  As a matter of fact, this anti-war protest almost went as far as certain states seceding from the United States.  Even stranger, these were the states MOST against the southern states seceding in the middle part of that century.

The Federalist Party held sway in the New England states and they especially opposed the war on economic and political  grounds.

New England Federalists  viewed the War of 1812 as a partisan crusade launched by  Democratic-Republican  President James Madison that would disrupt the region's  shipping and fishing industries.

Advocating states rights, the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut denied  use of their state militias in the service of :Mr. Madison's War."  As a matter of fact, Massachusetts even  attempted to negotiate a separate peace.

In December 1814, 26 New England Federalist leaders convened in the Connecticut capital of Hartford and threatened secession.  The Hartford Convention's proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution arrived in Washington, D.C.  just after news of the war's conclusion.

All this led to the eventual collapse of the Federalist Party amid charges of treason.

--Brock-Secessionist

New England's Hartford Convention Ended This Date in 1815

January 5, 1815

The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances during the War of 1812.  Also, they were upset at the growing power f the central government.

They discussed removing the 3.5 compromise from the Constitution and requiring a 2/3 Congressional vote to admit new states.

Secession was debated, but rejected as being too premature.  But they did call on the federal government to make special effort to protect New England.

The final report was issued on this date in 1815.  Of course, arrival of news of the end of the war kind of blunted the impact of this convention.  But, how about the idea that a section of the United States was already considering the idea of secession back then?

--Brock-Perry

How the British Invasion of Maine During the War of 1812 Led to Statehood-- Part 1

From the March 9, 2020, TV 13 CBS News by Bill Trotter.

The War of 1812 came to Maine in 1814 in a big way.  That's when the powerful British Navy descended upon the towns of Eastport, Machias and Castine.  What is today Maine, was at the time a part of Massachusetts.

The British controlled much of the Maine coast between Penobscot and Cobscook bays for most of a year, raiding towns along the Penobscot River and attacking Hampden and Bangor before returning to Castine.

The war had been going on for two years already, but divided support in the United States as well as the British being more involved with Napoleon had kept the fighting away from Maine.  That is, other than a sea battle between the USS Enterprise and the HMS Boxer which the American ship won.

Initial support for the war was weakest in New England, where the Federalist Party favored strong ties with England and merchants conducted significant trade with the British colony of Canada.  The New Englanders went so far as to almost have secession, something they opposed when the Southern states did so some fifty years later.

--Brock-Perry

Ten Strange Tales From America's Second War of Independence-- Part 2: The Rockets Red Glare

7.  Hiram Cronk was the last surviving American veteran.  He enlisted in the New York militia in 1814 at age 14 and served for 100 days.  Death came to Mr. Cronk in 1905 at age 105.

6.  Like before the Civil War, there was a question about secession, when the New England states considered it.  They didn't think the Southern states had the right to secede 20 years later, though.

5.  The war marked the use of Congreve Rockets which gave rise to the National Anthem's "Rockets Red Glare."

--Brock-Perry

Of Privateers and Secession

I have always wondered why the United States was so much against Confederate privateers, classifying then as pirates and threatening death to their crews when privateers were so highly regarded and wonderful by the country during the War of 1812.

And, for that matter, why did New England think secession in the 1850s and 1860s was so bad when they themselves were considering it during the War of 1812.

Just Makes You Wonder.  --Brock-Perry

The Hartford Convention Begins

DECEMBER 15, 1814-JANUARY 5, 1815:

The Hartford Convention, meeting secretly in Hartford, Connecticut, began today, 200 years ago.  Twenty-six New England delegates gathered to address grievances of the Federal government's management of the war and especially its control of militia, conscription and the financial burden of defense.

They even went so far as to consider secession.

I always find this odd, because in the years leading up to the Civil War, these very same states were so much against Southern secession.

--Brock-Perry

New England Thinking of Secession?

OCTOBER 18TH, 1814:  The Massachusetts General Court calls for a convention of New England states whose livelihood depends on British trade to coordinate a regional grievance against the federal government.  From December 15 to January 5, delegates from some of the New England states met in Hartford, Connecticut to discuss grievances against Washington, D.C. and to provide alternative solutions to talk of secession from New England radicals.

And, yet, 46 years later, New England was against secession of the the Southern states.

--Brock-Perry

Ten Things You Didn't Know About the War of 1812-- Part 4

7.  THE ILL-FATED GENERAL CUSTER HAD HIS START IN THE WAR

Well, actually, it was Colonel Custer at the Little Big Horn.  The Battle of the River Raisin took place in Michigan in 1813 and resulted in a big defeat for the Americans.  The British Indian allies afterwards attacked the wounded and prisoners and it turned into a massacre which sparked the American battle cry "Remember the Raisin."

William Henry Harrison led Americans to later victories and on his tomb is inscribed "Avenger of the River Raisin."

George Armstrong Custer grew up in Monroe, Michigan, along the Raisin River.  There is an 1871 photograph of him standing with some War of 1812 veterans by a monument for the battle.  Five years later, he himself was killed at another massacre.  Of course, Custer was no stranger to massacres, having done it often in his Indian fighting.


8.  THERE WAS ALMOST A UNITED STATES OF NEW ENGLAND

The New England states came close to seceding from the Union because of the war, which they felt would hurt their economic interests.  The Hartford Convention of the states of New England came as close to secession as anything before South Carolina seceded in 1860.  The states viewed  it as a separation of two sovereign states.

These states had been considering such a move for the fifteen previous years, especially after southerner Thomas Jefferson was elected in 1800.  The New Englanders stood solidly against the Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo Act of 1807.  They felt this would help the Southern states at their expense.

Kind of strange that they would be on the other side of secession less than fifty years later.

Brock-Perry