War of 1812

In 1812 the United States became involved in a second war with Great Britain. The war was touched off by British interference with United States shipping during the Napoleonic Wars. President Madison at first followed Jefferson's policy of avoiding hostilities. But new leaders in the west, notably Henry Clay of Kentucky, brought strong pressure for entering the conflict. These "War Hawks" hoped to win Canada for the United States, but the war ended in a peace that made no territorial changes. The end of the war stimulated a wave of migration to the West.

A casualty of the war was the Federalist party. New England leaders of the party opposed the war so vigorously that their critics charged them with plotting secession or treason. These accusations seriously weakened the party, and it broke up soon after the 1816 election.