U S Expansionism
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Expansionism for Protection
Canada, Indians, and Defensive Expansionism By Reginald C. Stuart
The War of 1812 was a war won by the Americans to keep Great Britain off American soil for good. The previous 36 years saw British troops occupying territory relatively close to the eastern seaboard, it saw British naval operations of impressment, and embargos on shipping which proved to be detrimental to British- U.S. relations. All of these components as well as others would lead to the War of 1812, and both parties had admirations of succeeding in their respected goals: one independence and the other control.
In his article dealing with the War of 1812, Mr. Stuart looks at pre-war conditions, and does this using Hezekiah Niles, a Jeffersonian-Republican who had his own weekly newspaper throughout the war. It seems to me that this article is important for several reasons, but mainly because its content deals with one of the most crucial time periods in early United States history. Trying to maintain their independence, the Americans not only had to deal with getting the British off of North American soil, but they had to deal with many angry groups of Native Americans, especially on the frontier and in the Ohio valley...