The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, ended the War of 1812 only after both governments ratified it. The British ratified on December 27, 1814, and the U.S. Senate unanimously approved it on February 16, 1815, with exchange of ratifications the next day officially concluding the war.
The Battle of Baltimore, fought September 12–14, 1814, was a combined British land and naval attack on Baltimore, Maryland, during the War of 1812. After burning Washington, D.C., British forces failed to seize Baltimore because American defenders held at North Point and Fort McHenry. The battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’
A research guide to the surviving primary sources of the War of 1812: official records, military and naval correspondence, treaties, newspapers, personal papers, and mediated Indigenous accounts. It identifies the major document types, the archives that hold them, and the biases researchers must weigh.
Women played essential and varied roles during the War of 1812, managing farms and businesses, serving as nurses and spies, and defending their homes. Their contributions, often obscured by contemporary gender ideals, were crucial to both American and Canadian war efforts and shaped postwar society.
The Treaty of Fort Jackson, signed on August 9, 1814, ended the Creek War and forced the Creek Nation to cede over 21 million acres to the United States. It was a turning point in the War of 1812 era, reshaping the American Southeast and escalating Indigenous dispossession.
War of 1812 muster rolls and payrolls are official military records listing soldiers’ names, ranks, service dates, and payments. They serve as essential primary sources for genealogical research and for understanding the composition and administration of American, state, and territorial forces during the war.
The War of 1812 grew out of Britain’s maritime struggle with Napoleonic France, which produced trade restrictions and the impressment of American sailors that the United States judged intolerable. Frontier violence involving British-allied Indigenous nations and the ambitions of congressional War Hawks added land and honor to the maritime grievances. Congress declared war on June 18, 1812, by the narrowest margin of any formally declared war in American history.
Sir George Prevost, governor-in-chief and commander-in-chief of British North America during the War of 1812, implemented a defensive strategy that preserved Canada against American invasion. His cautious approach and the controversial Battle of Plattsburgh shaped both the war’s outcome and his historical reputation.
The War of 1812 was fought largely on Canadian ground: the British provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were the main targets of American land offensives between 1812 and 1814. British regulars, Canadian militia and fencibles, provincial naval forces, and Indigenous allies repelled the invasions. The Treaty of Ghent left borders unchanged, and the successful defence of Canada became a cornerstone of English-Canadian historical memory.
Andrew Jackson rose to national prominence during the War of 1812 through his command of American forces in the Creek War and his decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans, cementing his reputation as a military hero and future president.
