Existing comment:
War of 1812 Breaks Out
Free Trade and Sailors' Rights:
The United States declared war on Great Britain in June 1812. "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," cried pro-war forces. We are tired of being bullied on the seas, our sailors pressed into Royal service. Most Marylanders agreed. But critics, particularly New Englanders, strongly dissented. They dubbed it "Mr. Madison's War."
No matter where you stood, one thing was clear: The United States, poorly-prepared and fiercely divided had picked a fight with an international power and the world's mightiest army.
Turbulent Inhabitants:
Baltimoreans embraced war, especially in the city's shipbuilding center at Fell's Point (see map, below). Local captains and investors eventually outfitted nearly 130 privateers and blockade runners -- armed vessels with letters-of-marque commissions allowing them to seize enemy ships.
Manned by white and black seaman [sic], Baltimore schooners like Rossie, Comet and Chasseur cruised the Caribbean, North Atlantic and British Isles seizing merchant ships and battling the Royal Navy.
Terror on the Chesapeake
A Campaign of Harassment and Plunder:
Great Britain declared a blockade of the Chesapeake Bay in late 1812. Over the next two years, Marylanders were in the cross hairs of war. The Royal Navy, hoping to divert American troops from the war's Canadian theatre, patrolled the bay, seizing ships, conducting raids, skirmishing with local militia, burning tobacco, and encouraging slaves to leave their owners.
In the end, the campaign of terror on the Chesapeake failed -- and only helped unite anti-war and pro-war Marylanders in common cause against there British occupiers. |