The War of 1812, also called "Mr. Madison's War" and " a second war for independence" was a conflict between the United States of America and Britain. It lasted between 1812 and 1815.
             Since 1796, France and Britain had been continuously fighting. The United States, rather than take sides, continued to trade with both countries. However, this did not make either France or Britain very happy. The United States was divided between whether to side with Britain or France. Many Americans wanted to side with the French, but others, including Alexander Hamilton, wanted to annul the alliance the United States had made with France, and side with Great Britain. George Washington, however, decided that it would be best to remain neutral, and therefore issued the Proclamation of Neutrality on April 22, 1793. In the same year, the French sent Edmund Genet to try to influence the Americans in favor of the French. Although he was originally liked by many Americans, he was later disliked because of his attempts to convince American ships to prey on British shipping.
             France was not the only country with dirty tricks up their sleeve. Britain also did its fair share of causing problems for the Americans. This time the problems occurred on the sea. British ships began to capture American merchant ships on their way to France. They sent captured American ships back to England as prizes of war, and forced the sailors into impressments. In 1794, George Washington sent John Jay to Britain to try to end the seizing of the ships. John Jay succeeded getting the British out of the Northwest Territory and compensation for all American ships they had previously seized. This was not good enough for many Americans because there was nothing in the treaty that prevented the British from seizing the American ships. In 1795, Thomas Pinckney went to Spain and secured a treaty with them. This treaty, called Pinckney's Treaty, allowed Americans to u...