James Madison, Fourth U.S. President
(1809-1817)
Native Americans:
Creek War 1813-14 and 1817-18
between U.S. and Creek Indians (southeast).
"General Andrew Jackson has crushed the Red Sticks faction of the Creek Indians
and forces the Creek Indians to surrender over 22 million acres of land
now known as Alabama and Georgia."
War of 1812
On August 24, 1814 during the War of 1812 the White House is
sacked and burned by the British. "At the negotiations in Ghent, Belgium
the British were prepared to accept large areas of American territory
including parts of what would become Maine and Minnesota and they demanded
a massive Indian state be created around the Great Lakes. In other words they were
determined to end American expansion into the West."
"In September 1814 the Governor General of Canada George Prevo led a British Army/Navy
into Northern New York. It was the largest force ever to invade the Continental United States.
On 11 September 1814 the British fleet sail on Lake Champlain and engage the American flag
ship, the Saratoga. After three hours of fighting the British left and moved back to Canada
for the protection of Canada for the future."
"Two days later British forces attack Baltimore, Maryland. The big prize was Baltimore. It
was an international community, a deep port, the center of commerce and the home of a lot
of privateers causing them problems, a big ship building town. The star shaped fort called Mc Henry
was the lynch pin. On 13 September 1814 the British bombarded Fort Mc
Henry. Francis Scott Key watched the battle throughout the night from eight miles away and
wrote The Star Spangled Banner when he observed the American flag still flying in the morning.
The British withdrew. It took 116 years before The Star Spangled Banner
became the National Anthem."
The British Navy head to New Orleans
to take control of the Mississippi River. General Jackson takes
his 1500 men through the swamps of Louisiana in November 1814. It takes
two weeks to cross the swamp and arrive in New Orleans. Jackson
assembles a total force of 4500 men by adding Kentucky frontiersmen,
River pirates, local militia, African American Militia, and Native Americans
who help build fortifications around New Orleans throughout December
1814. See 1815.
Sources:
Viola, Herman I, North American Indians, Crown Publishers, New York: New York, 1996
The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen
This 2018 four-episode, high-quality documentary offered on Amazon Prime or the History Channel is well worth watching.
The episode titled "Live Free or Die"
covers the time period from 1813-1836. It covers the last battle of the
War of 1812 at New Orleans in 1815 and the Indian Removal Act,
which becomes known as the Trail of Tears.
The War of 1812
This two hour documentary goes into details about several battles of the War of 1812
and its significance to America, Canada, and Native Americans.
Industrial Revolution / Technology:
First Integrated Cotton Textile Mill in America
A group of Boston investors introduced the first integrated cotton
textile mill in Waltham, Massachusetts to produce "cloth
from bale to bolt under one roof with machinery powered by water."
