Divisional Consequences of the War of 1812

The War of 1812 highlighted the political and regional divisions within the nation since the declaration of war was voted on in the House and Senate in June of 1812, splitting Americans through the dispute of whether to go to war or not. Through insisting, militant war hawks, the declaration of war was proposed and voted on in 1812. The close results of the poll revealed national disunity, since Representatives from the northern and middle states preferred not to go to fight because impressment was wrong and that a free sea was essential to their economy, while the western and southern states opposed; this showed the divisions between regions debating the war. Eventually, defiant New Englanders supported the British, also a factor of national disunity that divided the states. Furthermore, the dispute between Federalists and Republicans heightened due to the fact that Federalists opposed the acquisition of Canada, giving the Republicans a political advantage in strength if states were added from the territory. However, the Treaty of Ghent, which cased the war and restored maritime peace in 1814, coupled with the Hartford Convention raised a sense of nationalism in the states after Sectionalism was discredited, thus temporarily unifying the states once again. Overall, the War of 1812 highlighted the political and regional divisions within the nation ever since war was proposed, which caused Americans to dispute over the folly or discretion of war and to deal with it politically or locally.