U.S. Military History (M2d1 – M4d2)

M2D1: War of 1812 (Primary Reason America Went to War)

Madison decision to go to war with Britain was compelled by a number of factors. One of the official reasons given by the government for making this decision was due to British Impress. During this time Britain was already fighting with Napoleon Bonaparte a France leader. Though they had the largest size of navy worldwide at the time, they treated their sailors harshly and paid them low. As a result, many of their sailors abandoned their ships to go and work in American ships with better pay and better living conditions. The higher influx in number of sailors departing led to shortage in human resource for the Britain ships. The Britain government devised a legislation to authorize British Royal Navy to search other countries ships and look for sailors who had deserted and reinstate them to their posts even by force. This impress affected Americans most as most of the sailors had departed to Americas merchant ships (Harney, 1989). These ships became the common targets of British navy in high tide, where their ships were stopped and people working on them with energy were taken by force being assumed to be deserters. This irritated many congressmen in Madison government and they used it as a reason to go to war with Britain. The frequent impressments of American by British were viewed as an insult to the country sovereignty.

America was also causing worry to Britain with its expansion in shipping. This growth threatened British supremacy in commerce, as well as its safety and naval power. The British therefore, thought that by reducing this shipping they would incapacitate their enemy France. This interference with America’s trade also contributed to the war. These blockades attempted to control the number of ships going to France by insisting that they must do so by passing through her ports. America saw this as a violation of her independence considering the colonial period. American outburst on violation of her sovereign rights became evident following Chesapeake ship attack in 1807.

M2D2: Westward Expansion

The primary reason why Jackson addressed the issue of Native in Congress was in full realization that the country in its rapid expansion to the west would cause harm to the Natives. He knew that humanitarian measures needed to be taken to ensure that Natives cultural rights were not infringed upon as they interacted with civilized community. He knew that the White settlers would harm the Natives if the government failed to take precautionary measures. This draws from his argument that they had come to realize that these native community cannot prosper while living alongside civilized community (“Archives of the West” n.d).

As a leader who embraced development for all people, his speech reflects commitment to better the life of the common man. He envisaged a place where the natives could be left to chat their own development and at their own pace. He wanted to empower them economically to be able to thrive in the absence of competition with the rich. He wanted them to have an opportunity to participate in national development. This is in particular paying attention to the fact that he proposed creation of schools for them in the new land and there was also an opportunity to pick interpreters from the Indian where one was needed to contact them.

M3D1: The Mexican War’s Impact on the United States

The Mexican American War had several impacts in United States. They include territorial gains, and emerging conflict on expansion of slavery trade in the new territory. Through the signing of the treaty between Mexico and the government of United States more states like California, and New Mexico that comprises of Arizona, Nevada and Utah were added to the territory. This new acquisition brought about arguments on the state of slavery in the newly acquired land. It aggravated the Northern and Southern divide. David Wilmot proviso attempted to bar slavery in the new territories. In essence this typified the desire by the Northerners to outlaw slavery in order to maintain their political power. This led to more conflict and split in congress eventually culminating in the civil war. This shows that the war impact was two folds. On one side the state benefitted by adding huge chunks of land, but on the other there was disruption with break of congress and growing hatred between the South and North.

The American Mexican war was also very popular among the people. As a result, many of them rushed to recruitment stations in order to join the army. This indicates that the war impact on the country militarization was somehow positive. Besides, the naval had also contributed immensely in the war. Besides, the war was an important training platform for American soldiers, who later went to serve in the Civil War.

M3D2: The Mexican War and Manifest Destiny

One of the factors that led to western expansion was the need for more land for cultivation. At the time land was considered an important asset. Existence of unused lands in the west acted as an economic incentive for westward expansion. Technology is also another economic incentive that led to westward expansion. This is particularly in communication. Railroads allowed westward expansion. People could afford with these technologies to migrate to the west where cheap land and labor were available (University of Southern California, 2008). There was also the sense of civilization and the need to spread American way of life to the rest of the world. Many Americans had come to belief in the concept of Manifest of Destiny. It was believed that it was the fate of American to dominate the entire North America. American style of democracy was idolized by many and they wanted to spread it across the continent. To achieve this there was the need to subdue the natives and convert their way of life.

Some of the forces against the spread of Americans to the West include Mexico and the Great Britain. In acquiring Oregon for instance, Britain was in opposition. The Britain claim on Oregon was later dropped and their government handed it over to United States. The greatest struggle was in winning Mexican territory. The revolt to annex part of Mexico started at Texas with American Settlers rejecting the Mexican rules. The Mexican war between 1846 and 1848 led to control of more territory.

M4D1: Battle of Gettysburg

The battle of Gettysburg was an attempt by Rober E.Lee to invade the North and reduce mounting pressure from Virginia, to have time for growing crops. This was an important area that used to feed the confederate. Besides, he was also aware that getting more victory would pressure Abraham Lincoln to deliberate on how to bring the war to an end and provide South an opportunity to build their military. However, his lack of preparedness especially in organizing troop leader caused the South one of its greatest losses. For instance, despite having a very good plan he never understood the condition of his troop leaders.

In the battle of Gettysburg and the civil war new weapons emerged making the battle one of the most fierce. They include various types of cannons such as 12-pounder bronze gun that was commonly referred to as Napoleon (“Battle of Gettysburg”, n.d). Its long range fire and accuracy made it one of the most lethal weapons at the time. It was common among the Northern and used effectively to hold the southern confederate in the Gettysburg. Apart from the weapons strategy in formation during the battle were also unique.

M4D2: The Civil War

In my opinion the greatest cause of the civil war taking into consideration other factors was election of President Abraham Lincoln. As an ardent support of slavery abolition he provoked fury in many Southerners supporting spread of slavery to other territories. The Southerners believed that with his election he would favor the North. This is supported by secession of seven states from the union before his election and another four after. They include South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas (“Southern States Secede:” n.d).

One of the challenges that the new president faced was restoring confidence that as a republican he would unite the highly polarized Union. Many doubted this especially because the North had for a long time had the higher hand in federal government. This meant that the Southern democrats were skeptical about his leadership. The challenge became worse with the formation of the Southern Confederate. All the states that had seceded from the union held a delegate meeting at Montgomery, Alabama, which sought to deliberate the formation of Southern government.

References

“Battle of Gettysburg”. (n.d). Battle of Gettysburg Union and Confederate Armies Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Weapons, and Tactics. Retrieved on May 16, 2013, from http://thomaslegion.net/battle_of_gettysburg_infantry_cavalry_artillery_weapons_tactics_strategy.html

Archives of the West. (n.d). Indian Removal Extract from Andrew Jackson’s Seventh Annual message to Congress. Retrieved on May 16, 2013, from: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/two/removal.htm

Harney, M. W. W. (1989). The Causes of the War of 1812. Retrieved on May 16, 2013, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/HWW.htm

“Southern States Secede: South and Secession”. Why did the Southern States Secede? Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://thomaslegion.net/south_secede_southern_secession_states_rights_constitution.html

University of Southern California. (2008). What Caused Westward Expansion in the United States? ScienceDAily. Retrieved may 16, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/02/080228150402.htm