K is for Key

April 13, 2015 by Roland Clarke

Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States’ national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

During the War of 1812, one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British. Key went to Baltimore with British Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, and on a British ship negotiated the release of several prisoners. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop because they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore.

From aboard a British ship located about eight miles away, Key watched the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry on the night of September 13–14, 1814. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the enormous American flag still flying proudly over Fort McHenry and reported this to the prisoners below deck. The 30 x 42 feet flag had been pieced together on the floor of a Baltimore brewery, and has been preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

This 1873 image is the first known photograph taken of the Star-Spangled Banner. Taken at the Boston Navy Yard on June 21st, 1873. (Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.)

Back in Baltimore and inspired, Key wrote a poem about his experience, “Defence of Fort M’Henry”. The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. It was a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song “When the Warrior Returns,” celebrating U.S. heroes of the First Barbary War. (Key used the “star spangled” flag imagery in the earlier song.)

People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and it became increasingly popular, competing with “Hail, Colombia” (1796) as the de facto national anthem by the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.

“Francis Scott Key by Joseph Wood c1825” by attributed to Joseph Wood (1778-1830) – . Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons –

Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843. Today, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1914 is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/starflag.htm

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-story-behind-the-star-spangled-banner-149220970/

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/key-pens-star-spangled-banner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key

http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-war-of-1812.aspx

PREVIOUS A TO Z POSTS:

A is for Anishinaabe ~ B is for Brock ~ C is for Coloured Corps ~ D is for Detroit ~ E is for Erie ~ F is for First Nations ~ G is for Ghent ~ H is for Harrison ~ I is for Impressment ~ J is for Jackson

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behaviour.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, we blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 3 is “C,” and so on. Please visit other challenge writers.

My theme is ‘The War of 1812’, a military conflict, lasting for two-and-a-half years, fought by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its North American colonies, and its American Indian allies. The Memoirs of a British naval officer from the war is central to my novel “Seeking A Knife” – part of the Snowdon Shadows series.

Further reading on The War of 1812:

http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng

http://www.history.com/topics/war-of-1812

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-war-of-1812-stupid-but-important/article547554/

http://www.shmoop.com/war-1812/

http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/

J is for Jackson

April 11, 2015 by Roland Clarke

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) gained national fame through his role in the War of 1812 and became the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837).

He was born near the end of the colonial era, somewhere near the then-unmarked border between North and South Carolina, into a recently immigrated Scots-Irish farming family of relatively modest means. During the American Revolutionary War Jackson’s family supported the revolutionary cause, and he acted as a courier. He later became a lawyer, and in 1796 he helped found the state of Tennessee. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and then to the U.S. Senate. In 1801, Jackson was appointed colonel in the Tennessee militia, which became his political as well as military base.

As a major general in the War of 1812, Jackson commanded U.S. forces in a five-month campaign against the Creek Indians, allies of the British. Aided by other Native American nations such as the Cherokee and Choctaw, the decisive American victory in the Battle of Tohopeka (or Horseshoe Bend) in Alabama in mid-1814 ended the campaign, Jackson then led American forces to victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans (January 1815). The win, which occurred after the War officially ended, but before news of the Treaty of Ghent had reached Washington, elevated Jackson to the status of national war hero.

Jackson in 1824, painting by Thomas Sully

Nominated for president in 1824, Jackson narrowly lost to John Quincy Adams. Jackson’s supporters then founded what became the Democratic Party. Nominated again in 1828, Jackson crusaded against Adams and the “corrupt bargain” between Adams and Henry Clay that he said cost him the 1824 election. Building on his base in the West and new support from Virginia and New York, he won by a landslide.

For some, his legacy is tarnished by his role in the forced relocation of Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi. Despite the assistance of nations such as the Cherokee and Choctaw in the Creek Campaign, as President he supported, signed, and enforced the 1830 Indian Removal Act, which relocated a number of native tribes to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/andrew-jackson

PREVIOUS A TO Z POSTS:

A is for Anishinaabe ~ B is for Brock ~ C is for Coloured Corps ~ D is for Detroit ~ E is for Erie ~ F is for First Nations ~ G is for Ghent ~ H is for Harrison ~ I is for Impressment

Further reading on The War of 1812:

http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng

http://www.history.com/topics/war-of-1812

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-war-of-1812-stupid-but-important/article547554/

http://www.shmoop.com/war-1812/

http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/

The Role of the Editor: Guest Post by Sue Barnard

April 10, 2015 by Roland Clarke

Fascinating and insightful interview with Sue Barnard, the editor that I’ve just used for “Storms Compass”.

Vanessa Couchman

Author and editor, Sue Barnard

I’m delighted to welcome my friend and fellow Crooked Cat author, Sue Barnard, to the chaise longue this week. Not only is Sue an author in her own right, but she’s also an editor. More precisely, she is my editor. And a cracking job she did, too, of The House at Zaronza. She saved me from many a howler and smartened up my prose no end.

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I is for Impressment

April 10, 2015 by Roland Clarke

Impressment, or removing seamen from U.S. merchant vessels and forcing them to serve on behalf of the British, was one of the main causes of the War of 1812, according to most sources. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15), the Royal Navy expanded to 175 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. While the Royal Navy could man its ships with volunteers in peacetime, it competed in wartime with merchant shipping and privateers for a small pool of experienced sailors and turned to impressment when it could not operate ships with volunteers alone. Britain did not recognize the right of a British subject to relinquish his status as a British subject, emigrate and transfer his national allegiance as a naturalized citizen to any other country. Thus while the United States recognized British-born sailors on American ships as Americans, Britain did not.

The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become United States citizens. Britain did not recognize naturalized United States citizenship, so in addition to recovering deserters, it considered United States citizens born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the widespread use of forged identity or protection papers by sailors. This made it difficult for the Royal Navy to distinguish Americans from non-Americans and led it to impress some Americans who had never been British. (Some gained freedom on appeal.)] American anger at impressment grew when British frigates were stationed just outside U.S. harbours in view of U.S. shores and searched ships for contraband and impressed men while in U.S. territorial waters. “Free trade and sailors’ rights” was a rallying cry for the United States throughout the conflict.

We Owe Allegiance to No Crown, by John Archibald Woodside. c. 1814. Photograph copyright Nicholas S. West. Photography by Erik Arnesen.

Between 1803 and 1812, approximately 5,000-9,000 American sailors were forced into the Royal Navy with as many as three-quarters being legitimate American citizens. Though the American government repeatedly protested the practice, British Foreign Secretary Lord Harrowby contemptuously wrote in 1804, “The pretention advanced by Mr. [Secretary of State James] Madison that the American flag should protect every individual on board of a merchant ship is too extravagant to require any serious refutation.”

The Royal Navy also used impressment extensively in British North America from 1775 to 1815. Its press gangs sparked resistance, riots, and political turmoil in seaports such as Halifax, St John’s, and Quebec City. In 1805 this led to a prohibition on impressment on shore for much of the Napoleonic Wars. The protest came from a wide swath of the urban community, including elites, rather than just the vulnerable sailors, and had a lasting negative impact on civil–naval relations in what became Canada. The local communities did not encourage their young men to volunteer for the Royal Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressment

http://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/08/08a.htm

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1812-a-nation-emerges-opens-at-the-national-portrait-gallery-122555161/?no-ist

PREVIOUS A TO Z POSTS:

A is for Anishinaabe ~ B is for Brock ~ C is for Coloured Corps ~ D is for Detroit ~ E is for Erie ~ F is for First Nations ~ G is for Ghent ~ H is for Harrison

Further reading on The War of 1812:

http://www.history.com/topics/war-of-1812

http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-war-of-1812-stupid-but-important/article547554/

http://www.shmoop.com/war-1812/

http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/

H is for Harrison

April 9, 2015 by Roland Clarke

William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, where Harrison’s forces fought off followers of the powerful Shawnee leader Tecumseh (1768-1813). Although the U.S. suffered significant troop losses and the battle’s outcome was inconclusive and did not end Indian resistance, Harrison ultimately emerged with his reputation as an Indian fighter intact, and earned the nickname “Tippecanoe” (or “Old Tippecanoe”). He capitalized on this image during his 1840 presidential campaign, using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,”

After a dozen years as governor of the Indiana Territory, Harrison rejoined the Army when the War of 1812 began. He was made a brigadier general and placed in charge of the Army of the Northwest, on September 17, 1812. Promoted to major general, Harrison worked diligently to transform his army from an untrained mob into a disciplined fighting force. Unable to go on the offensive while British ships controlled Lake Erie, Harrison worked to defend American settlements.

In late September 1813, after the American victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, Harrison moved to the attack. Ferried to Detroit by Master Commandant Oliver H. Perry’s victorious squadron, Harrison set off in pursuit British and Native American forces under Major General Henry Proctor and Tecumseh. Catching them on October 5, Harrison won a key victory at the Battle of the Thames which saw Tecumseh killed, the war on the Lake Erie front effectively ended, and the dissolution of the Indian coalition.

William Henry Harrison ~ National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC. ~ Photograph Source: Public Domain

Harrison told US Secretary of War John Armstrong, Jr. that all his casualties were a result of the native warriors, not the British regulars. Unable to sustain or build on his victory, Harrison and his men headed for Detroit, the Americans now in firm control of the North West frontier. Procter would continue to command those who had fought with him, but his poor handling of the retreat and battle would be his undoing. Though a skilled and popular commander, Harrison resigned the following summer after disagreements with Secretary of War John Armstrong.

After the war, Harrison moved to Ohio, where he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In 1824 the state legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. He served a truncated term after being appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia in May 1828. In Colombia, he spoke with Simón Bolívar urging his nation to adopt American-style democracy.

Harrison was elected as the ninth President of the United States in 1840, and died on his 32nd day in office of pneumonia in April 1841- the first president to die in office and serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history. He was the last President born as a British subject. His death sparked a brief constitutional crisis, but its resolution settled many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by the Constitution until the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, who was the 23rd President from 1889 to 1893.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison

http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng/Topic/29

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-henry-harrison

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/1800sarmybiographies/p/whharrison.htm

PREVIOUS A TO Z POSTS:

A is for Anishinaabe ~ B is for Brock ~ C is for Coloured Corps ~ D is for Detroit ~ E is for Erie ~ F is for First Nations ~ G is for Ghent

G is for Ghent

April 8, 2015 by Roland Clarke

The Treaty of Ghent), signed on December 24, 1814, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. The treaty restored relations between the two nations to status quo before the war — that is, it restored the borders of the two countries to the line before the war started in June 1812. The Treaty was approved by the Prince Regent (the future King George IV). It took a month for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States. American forces under Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. The Treaty of Ghent was not in effect until it was ratified by the U.S. Senate unanimously on February 18, 1815.

The peace discussions began in the neutral city of Ghent in August 1814. As the peace talks opened American diplomats decided not to present President Madison’s demands for the end of impressment and suggestion that Britain turn Canada over to the U.S. They let the British open with their demands, chief of which was the creation of an Indian barrier state in the American Northwest Territory (the area from Ohio to Wisconsin). It was understood the British would sponsor this Indian state. The British strategy for decades had been to create a buffer state to block American expansion. The Americans refused to consider a buffer state and the proposal was dropped. Article IX of the treaty included provisions to restore to Natives “all possessions, rights and privileges which they may have enjoyed, or been entitled to in 1811”, but the provisions were unenforceable and in any case Britain ended its practice of supporting or encouraging tribes living in American territory.

In his 1914 painting A Hundred Years Peace, artist Amedee Forestier illustrates the signing of the Treaty of Ghent between Great Britain and the US, 24 December 1814 (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-115678).

After months of negotiations, against the background of changing military victories, defeats and losses, the parties finally realized that their nations wanted peace and there was no real reason to continue the war. Now each side was tired of the war. Export trade was all but paralyzed and after Napoleon fell in 1814 France was no longer an enemy of Britain, so the Royal Navy no longer needed to stop American shipments to France, and it no longer needed more seamen so impressment was not an issue.

Consequently, none of the issues that had caused the war or that had become critical to the conflict were included in the treaty.

The treaty thus made no significant changes to the pre-war boundaries, although the U.S. did gain territory from Spain. Britain promised to return the freed black slaves that they had taken. In actuality, a few years later Britain instead paid the United States $1,204,960 for them. Both nations also promised to work towards an ending of the international slave trade.

Canadian author, Pierre Berton wrote of the treaty, “It was as if no war had been fought, or to put it more bluntly, as if the war that was fought was fought for no good reason. For nothing has changed; everything is as it was in the beginning save for the graves of those who, it now appears, have fought for a trifle:…Lake Erie and Fort McHenry will go into the American history books, Queenston Heights and Crysler’s Farm into the Canadian, but without the gore, the stench, the disease, the terror, the conniving, and the imbecilities that march with every army.”

The Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, opened in 1927 to commemorate more than a century of peace between the United States and Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Ghent

http://www.history.com/topics/treaty-of-ghent

http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng/Topic/55

PREVIOUS A TO Z POSTS:

A is for Anishinaabe ~ B is for Brock ~ C is for Coloured Corps ~ D is for Detroit

E is for Erie ~ F is for First Nations