Rewinning the Revolution: The Misunderstood War of 1812 From a Sailor’s Point of View

Rewinning the Revolution: The Misunderstood War of 1812 From a Sailor’s Point of View

The war between America and Britain from 1812 to 1815 was a war of paradoxes. It should have been over before it started. The last battle was fought after the peace treaty had been signed It settled absolutely nothing but it changed everything. It has been called America’s Second War of Independence, but the first one had never properly ended. On land and sea, many American efforts to attack and defend were botched horribly, while a handful succeeded brilliantly. The country was divided over the war and New England even talked of seceding from the Union. But we learned some valuable lessons—that we really did need a professional army and navy—that we were a nation of farmers, tradesmen, but also manufacturers and international merchants. Most importantly, we learned that, properly led, we could triumph against the best that Britain could throw at us. Fortunately we had ships built to challenge the power of the Barbary pirates. They had “heavy scantlings” (sailor talk for extra strong) and most were larger than British frigates, some with 24-pounders instead of the 18-pounders. But the most important factor wa the recent fighting experience of the U.S. Navy during anti-piracy operations and the “Quasi-War” with France.