tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16002198.post-1136406091407878132006-01-04T15:12:00.000-05:002006-01-04T15:42:12.333-05:00<div align="left">I'm researching the War of 1812 and will be doing a series of posts about it.<br /><br /><blockquote><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Pre-War:</span></strong> </blockquote><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/1600/Napoleon.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/320/Napoleon.jpg" border="0" /></a>Napoleon Bonaparte became dictator of France after the French Revolution of 1789. The French were angry with King Louis XVI. When everyone started rebelling, Napoleon saw his chance. He appointed himself General and helped them kill the king and all of the king’s family. Napoleon was then appointed ruler. Some French, instead of fighting in Napoleon’s army, fled to America. </div><div align="left"><br />When the French dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, came to power, of all of Europe, only England did not fall. The Americans saw this as an opportunity to convince the British that America was a country, not a group of rebels. While the British tried to stop Napoleon, the Americans sent out ships to attack the British. Another reason for the Americans to enter the European war was that the British captured and forced Americans to work on their ships, calling them deserters even if they had been in America for 15 years. They said, "Once an Englishman, always an Englishman." (p. 11) </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /><blockquote><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Wartime:</span></strong> </blockquote></div><div align="left"><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/1600/Englishship.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/320/Englishship.jpg" border="0" /></a>"Americans were soon to learn that it is easier to declare war than to win victories. For war has a way of sending high hopes running head-on into reality. War is a dice gave for the highest stakes, only more unpredictable and harder to control than some ivory cubes flung across the table." (p. 20)div> </div><div align="left"><br />Much of the war of 1812 was fought on the water. The entire United States Navy was only sixteen ships (like David against the Royal Navy’s Goliath). The Royal Navy had one thousand and<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/1600/frigate.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/320/frigate.jpg" border="0" /></a> forty-eight warships but the American ships, like David, were more cunning as well as stronger than they seemed. Three of its ships were Super-Frigates; meaning that they were faster as well as more heavily armored and armed than normal Frigates. The heart of the U. S. Navy were the ships Constitution, United States, and President.</div><div align="left"><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/1600/perry.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/320/perry.jpg" border="0" /></a>A great struggle on land was fought for the Great Lakes. In a cold and harsh winter, the American leader, Officer Oliver Hazard Perry, built a fleet of ships from scratch to try to hold the Great Lakes. His workers were tired and hungry and new supplies didn’t arrive until spring. All the ships were made of green wood, meaning that they wouldn’t last long.</div><div align="left"><br />The British had a small but powerful fleet stationed on the Detroit River. Many times their commander challenged Perry to fight but Perry decided the time of the battle. On July 31st, American sentries looked and found the lake empty. The British had disappeared! Apparently the British Commander, Barclay, went to a party thrown by Canadians. Perry quickly swept in and took battle stations outside the harbor. Perry’s capitol ship, Lawrence, got caught in mud. Perry dismounted her guns and had them taken ashore. The water was pumped out of Lawrence but the two ships that came to Lawrence’s aid sank. As the Americans tried to row Lawrence out of the mud, the British returned. Perry bluffed and sent his smaller craft to attack. Barclay retreated to Fort Malden to wait for his flagship to be finished. While waiting for Barclay’s return, Perry went to gather special squirrel whisker shooting marines from Kentucky. </div><div align="left"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/1600/changingships.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6933/1502/320/changingships.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />When Perry went back to the Great Lakes, Barclay was almost out of food supplies. Ready or not, Barclay had to fight. On September 10, 1813, the great battle took place. Perry was victorious because he had tricks. One of his ships had stayed behind. When Lawrence was dying, Perry switched ships. The entire British Squadron was destroyed that day.</div><div align="center"><br />Facts gathered from the book <u>1812: THE WAR NOBODY WON</u> by Albert Marrin, McClelland &amp; Stewart, Ltd., 1985 </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Homeschooler</div>K W Pucknoreply@blogger.com