The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [109]
At sea, the British maintained a blockade of the American coast severely hurting trade, nonetheless, in several single-ship duels on the high seas American frigates defeated larger British ships. Perhaps the best known was the USS. Constitution’s[120] victory over the larger and better armed HMS Guerriere. Even though the Americans won several single-ship battles, the British blockade was effective and significantly impaired US commerce.[121]
The last battle of the war took place when the British assaulted the city of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River on January 8, 1815. Unfortunately, the war was already over when the battle took place, but the forces were unaware of this fact because word of the treaty’s signing was slow to reach the British or American armies. The British forces drew up on a flat area near the town and launched an all-out attack but General Andrew Jackson had expertly fortified the area the British had to assault. The battle was fierce, nevertheless, well-protected defenders shot down the British as they attacked across open ground. Over two thousand English troops were lost to approximately one hundred Americans killed in the action. Word of this unnecessary victory reached Washington DC about the same time as the news of the signing of the treaty. The result was a huge celebration and the illusion of a war won against the British.
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, ended the war. Not much was gained by either side. The impressments issue went away because the English stopped impressments after the war with Napoleon ended. England gave back the portion of Maine they conquered. The one real gain was on the frontier where the American settlers would no longer face Native Americans allied with and supported by the British. After several defeats and the near secession of New England from the Union over trade issues, perhaps the American leadership learned a lesson. This was the last war between the United States and the United Kingdom.
American Growth and Problems
By 1815, the population of the United States and its western areas (not actually a part of the nation) was about 10 million. In Europe (including western Russia), the population was over 200 million. In India, the population was estimated at 190 million, and in China about 320 million. Japan stood at approximately 20 million. Thus, the United States enjoyed a small population compared to the industrialized nations of Europe, the colony of India, or the Far East. In trade, however, America was doing very well. The American method of manufacture was starting to spread throughout the United States. In this method machines produced parts so well that no additional human handiwork was necessary before assembly. In one showing of how this worked, an American firearms manufacturer put new parts from several rifles right off the machining process into a box and shook it. After he shook them up, he took them out and assembled the rifles that functioned properly without any additional work. In Europe the manufactures were still using gunsmiths for the final assembly because the parts did not come out of the machines ready to install. Tweaking was required before the parts would fit. Thus, each rifle ended up as a semi-custom gun with the parts individually fitted. Such innovative techniques made American goods cheaper and the parts were easier to replace.
As time advanced, things were not all sweetness and light in the new republic of the United States of America. In 1838, Joshua Giddings from Ohio became the first representative elected to Congress on a platform of ending slavery (abolitionist). As the abolitionist made progress in Congress the southerners began to worry about