1778       US allies with France

1789       French revolution

1797-98   quasi-war with France. XYZ Affair. Settled with peace treaty, 1800.

1799        Napoleon seizes power in France

1801-04   battles with Barbary pirates in North Africa build on American sense of inferiority/disrespect at sea

1803 France and England go back to war.  US trades heavily with both nations and their possessions, the value of such trade rising from $32M in 1803 to $108M in 1807. The majority of these ships and sailors are not insured, so all their value is lost if seized.

1804 Napoleon proclaims himself emperor of France

1805 at Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson crushes French/Spanish fleet (they lose 22 of 27 ships, British none), giving Great Britain naval supremacy in the Atlantic and Mediterranean

1806 England begins to, in effect, blockade US shipping (close European ports to US ships unless they first ship through British ports; French seize American ships that obey British rules) and continues impressments. British define citizenship as inalienable (if you are born under the British flag, you are a British citizen until death); American definition is much looser (after 14 years of residence, you can become an American citizen).  Mass desertions from British Navy to American ships in this period: no raises for over 150 years; US ships pay up to 5X as much salary. Even by the American definition, admits the Secretary of the Treasury, half the US merchant marine (about 11,000 sailors in 1805) is British. British and Americans agree that the British can search American merchant ships in British ports for deserters.  British do not claim right to search US warships or US merchant ships in neutral ports. But they do claim right to search US ships on high seas, which US, alone among nations in the world, denies. Monroe (Secretary of State) counts 6200 Americans impressed 1803-11. In response, the French say that any ships obeying British rules will be "denationalized" and seized.

In 1807, British Orders in Council mandate that US ships dock in British ports and pay a British tax before trading with any part of Europe under Napoleon's control (compare with Navigation Acts).

French seize American ships bound for or leaving England. "The Devil himself could not tell which government, England or France, is the most wicked," says one congressman.

US responses:

1807 Embargo Act. Economic disaster for US. No foreign trade at all. (Congress also passes nonimportation act, late 1806.) Jefferson believes this will increase virtue and self-reliance among Americans (compare with homespun movement, 1768). Met with massive smuggling, particularly to West Indies, particularly along border (compare with massive smuggling, 1760s). MA and CT legislatures nullify and threaten secession. Jefferson compared, unfavorably, to George III as tyrant. In Massachusetts, 80% of merchants and others involved in import-export are bankrupt or impoverished. In Salem, which in 1790 was the country's 6th-largest city, its wealthiest per capita, and which had brought in 5% by itself of US annual revenue, a soup kitchen opens.

1808 Non-Intercourse Act. Can trade with other countries except England or France until those two countries loosen restrictions.

1810 Macon’s Bill #2. US will trade with other countries and with both England and France despite their restrictions, but will embargo the other if one drops its restrictions. Napoleon lies and tells US he will repeal restrictions, so US reimposes nonintercourse on England, which kind of works--high bread prices cause riots, 1811, and Manchester cotton mills are running low by end of year. British revoke Orders in Council, June 1812.

War of 1812
(diplomatic historian George Herring: “a textbook example of how not to conduct diplomacy.”)

June 1812 Madison gets declaration of war from Congress (2 days after British revoke Orders in Council and instruct navy to avoid clashes with American shipping, which unfortunately Americans do not hear about for five weeks; Madison later admits he would have waited to declare war had he known). Not very popular: 79-49 in House, 19-13 in Senate (first, and closest, war vote in US history; Federalists vote 39-0 against). Herring: “most unpopular war in US history until Vietnam.” US not very prepared: 7,000 soldiers in US army (must pardon deserters to have enough); 16 warships in navy (517 privateers). US must offer cash bonuses and land to enlistees. (Even so, one New York official tells the Secretary of the Treasury that the soldiers called up there are so "raw & undisciplined, that no officer could risk his life & honour with them.") British military has 600 ships in active service, with 250 more being built or repaired, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, as well as 40x the tax revenue (recall that under Jefferson the US has cut most taxes, including the Whiskey Tax), but most of it is tied up in Europe.

By late 1813, British have blockaded every US port S of New England; close those ports in April 1814. That same month, Napoleon abdicates. British burn Washington, including White House (though not before eating a dinner for 40 they find laid out on the dining-room table there), House, Senate, and Library of Congress, in August.

In September, Francis Scott Key watches attack on Baltimore and writes Star-Spangled Banner.

Aug. 1814 treaty negotiations begin in Ghent, Belgium. Impressment ends after defeat of Napoleon; British actually start discharging sailors from Royal Navy. Some parts of Cape Cod (Nantucket, most famously) make a separate peace with England, some citizens even refusing to pay US taxes and signing oaths of allegiance to England; CT and MA governments fight with Washington over command of state militias. Mass. Gov. sends a secret agent to Nova Scotia offering to help defend Canada in exchange for British military aid if things get worse. Simultaneous Hartford Convention (anti-war, anti-3/5 clause, endorses nullification as enunciated in Virginia and Kentucky resolves) in New England kills Federalist Party after Jackson’s victory at New Orleans (Jan. 1815--British lose 2000 dead/wounded, US 83).

British initially demand 250,000 sq mi buffer state for Indians (c. 15% of US) between Great Lakes and Ohio River; open access to Mississippi River; giving part of Maine to Canada; no US ships in Great Lakes; no US fishing off Nova Scotia. US victory at Lake Champlain (Sep. 1814)

and turmoil in France (Napoleon escapes exile in Elba, Feb. 1815) improves negotiating position, as does British war-weariness (Prime Minister, Oct. 1814: another season of war will cost "much more than we had any idea of" and doubts British taxpayer will foot the bill; soon, British diplomats told to get rid of "the millstone of an American war" as soon as they can). Treaty (signed December 24, 1814, 13 days before battle of New Orleans) basically returns to status quo; nothing about impressment mentioned, although British abandon the practice, and give up their forts and return occupied territory. Basically none of war aims are accomplished. US northern boundary fixed at 49th parallel west of Great Lakes. Access to Mississippi and fishing areas left for future. 

Results
(winners/losers):

Federalists ridiculed and dead as a party; Republicans elevated
US Presidents:

1789-96 Washington (no party, then F)
1796-1800 Adams (F)
1800-1808 Jefferson (D-R)
1808-16 Madison (D-R)
1816-24 Monroe (D-R)

--Andrew Jackson (most important political figure of next 35 or so years) becomes national figure through victory at Battle of New Orleans. US loses 20,000 total, about 17,000 due to disease in military camps.

--US nationalism hugely increased (see “The Star-Spangled Banner,”  which becomes national anthem in 1916): "never did a country occupy more lofty ground,” says Supreme Court justice Joseph Story. “We  have stood the conquest single-handed against the conqueror of Europe.” Canadian nationalism also focused and increased. 

--Native Americans lose 25M acres (1/2 their land), possibility of future foreign aid. Native leader Tecumseh explains to an American general,"you want, by your distinctions of Indian tribes, in allotting to each a particular plot of land, to make them war with each other. You never see an Indian come and endeavor to make the white people do so." Native relations move from being a matter of foreign policy to one of domestic policy, stripping Native Americans of autonomy and independent power.

--War costs, in modern terms, $158B and 2200 soldiers (US army c.10,000 people at start, recall). Government nearly bankrupt at end--US defaults on national debt, Nov. 1814; State Dept can't even pay for its stationery. US national debt was $45M in 1812, $127M in 1815.