Why US and UK Went to War in 1812

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William Anthony Hay, Sovereign and Eager to Prove It; A sense of vulnerability made Americans defensive—and ready to fight when Britain tried to make its former colony a client state. Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 04682349762066.html
(book review on Troy Bickham, The Weight of Vengeance; The United Statesm the British Empire, and the War of 1812. Oxford University Press, 2012)

Quoe: "The United States declared war in June 1812 lacking both the money and military to fight * * * America's naval victories in single-ship fights embarrassed Britain but had little effect on the war."

Note:
(a) casus belli (n; New Latin, occasion of war):
"an event or action that justifies or allegedly justifies a war or conflict"
www.m-w.com
(b)
(i) impressment (n): "the act of seizing for public use or of impressing into public service"
(ii) impress (vt): "to levy or take by force for public service; especially : to force into naval service"
(iii) Please take notice this pair (impress-impressment) has the same etymology (in + press) as the other pair (impress-impression)--but each pair has different meanings.

(c) The review stated, "In the early 19th century, American policy focused on sovereignth--on asserting the rights of the United States as a country unto itself."

unto (prep; Middle English, probably from un- (as in until) + to to):
"1: TO
2—used as a function word to indicate reference or concern <they became a world unto themselves — Anne T Fleming>"

(i) Definition 1 is archaic.

unto. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus, undated.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/unto
("And the Lord spake unto (= spoke to) him")
(ii) Another example for definition 2.

be a law unto yourself. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus, undated.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ ... a-law-unto-yourself
"DISAPPROVING  Definition  to behave in a way which is independent and does not follow the usual rules for a situation  <Charlie, of course, never fills in the record forms but then he's a law unto himself.>"  

(d) Henry Clay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay
(1777-1852; Kentucky; US Representaitive, speaker of the House, secretary of state (1825-1829; under Pres John Quincy Adams), and US senator)

In respect of War of 1812, he was both US House representative and speaker of the House--Mar 4, 1811-Jan 19, 1814; Mar 4, 1815-Oct 28, 1820. See Wiki, section 3 Speaker of the House: subsection 3.1 Early years.

(e) Wabash River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_River
(draining into the Ohio River, of which it [Wabash] is the largest northern tributary)

Quote: "The name 'Wabash' is an English spelling of the French name for the river, 'Ouabache.' French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, waapaahšiiki, meaning 'it shines white,' 'pure white,' or 'water over white stones.' The Miami name reflected the clarity of the river in Huntington County, Indiana where the river bottom is limestone."

* limestone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone
(calcium carbonate (CaCO3))

(f) The review said, "Britain saw the merchant fleet of the United States more than double from 1793 to 1807, making the US a global maritime rival."

For merchant fleet, see ship transport
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_transport
(section 1 Merchant shipping)

(g) Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jenkinson,_2nd_Earl_of_Liverpool
(1770-1828; his father was Charles Jenkinson, later the first Earl of Liverpool; his "19 year old mother, who was the part-Indian daughter of a senior East India Company official William Watts, died from the effects of childbirth one month after his birth" [in other words, his grandmother, who was wife of William Watts, was Indian from India])

Quote: He (Robert Jenkonson) is "the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1812-27) since the Union with Ireland in 1801. He was 42 years old when he became premier in 1812, which made him younger than all of his successors to date."

(i) Congress of Vienna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Vienna
(held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815)

To beginhis first exile, Napoleon arrived at the island of Elba on May 3, 1814, which he escaped on Feb 26, 1815.