War of 1812

War between the USA and Britain caused by British interference with US shipping trade as part of Britain's economic warfare against Napoleonic France. A treaty signed in Ghent, Belgium, in December 1814 ended the conflict, with neither side victorious.

The British policies of forcing neutral US ships to stop at British ports and pay duties and of impressing US sailors from American ships were growing sources of hostility against the British. In 1806 the USA passed the Non-Importation Act, barring British goods from US markets. The following year, Congress passed the Embargo Act, prohibiting exports and forbidding US ships from sailing into foreign ports. The act was not only disastrous for US trade but also failed to curb British and French trade restrictions. In 1809 the USA ended the embargo and passed the Non-Intercourse Act, allowing trade with any foreign country except the UK and France, but this act also failed.