Chapter 12 13 Themes

Chapter 12

The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism

Big ideas matter. Here are the most important themes for this chapter.

The over-arching theme of chapter 12 is how the young U.S. proved itself to the rest of the world. The U.S. did this by “sticking up” for herself against Britain in the War of 1812. This caused American patriotism to surge.

  1. The U.S. vs. England fighting had a few themes: (a) U.S. lost in Canada, (b) U.S. surprisingly won at sea, (c) the two split in the Chesapeake, and (d) the U.S. won the big battle at New Orleans.
  2. The war was not universally supported. Mostly, the North opposed the war since it was bad for trade. The South and West generally favored the war.
  3. After the war, the U.S. could focus on herself, as with the “American System” to build up the economy.
  4. In terms of expansion, a few things happened: (a) the Missouri Compromise drew an East-West line to separate slave and free states, (b) Oregon and Florida became American lands, and (c) the Monroe Doctrine warned Europe to “stay away!”

Back to the themes index.

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