How did the human and economic costs, the destruction of the capital city, the territorial results, and postwar status and condition of the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi affect how most Americans viewed the War of 1812?
What did the war mean for the long-term territorial ambitions of the United States and the self-confidence and optimism of Americans as it entered into the postwar era?
Answer: An ideal answer:
1. Discuss the unprecedented number of casualties and deaths caused by the war, the inconclusive territorial results of the war (status quo ante), and the near bankruptcy of American finances due to the war effort.
2. Note how despite all of the adverse and indecisive consequences of the war noted above, Americans across the nation joyously celebrated the Treaty of Ghent and Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans because the war's conclusion meant that Britain's essentially 40-year effort to prevent the creation and then destroy the independent existence and territorial integrity of the United States had now come to an end.
3. Discuss how by essentially eliminating the power and influence and wide swaths of territory of the Creeks, the Cherokees, and Shawnees and other Indians east of the Mississippi, the American military efforts in the War of 1812 had eliminated Indian tribes east of the Mississippi as significant impediments to further westward white settlement.
4. Discuss how a leading statesman of the day, Congressman Henry Clay, a War Hawk, echoed the sentiments of many Americans in declaring that by fighting Great Britain, the world's supreme power to a standstill, the United States had gained "respectability and character abroad" and "security and confidence at home."
5. Discuss how even a New England Federalist such as Daniel Webster noted the optimism and self-confidence of Americans in "[opening] us up to other prospects and suggested other duties."
6. Note the significance of Webster's comment about how the war changed Americans and how the world viewed America. In Webster's view, Americans were becoming an optimistic, self-confident, and forward-looking people.
7. Moreover, the essay should discuss how the previous perception held by European powers of America as a vulnerable, weak, and indecisive nation was changed significantly by America fighting Britain to a draw and sustaining its independence and territorial integrity with the signing and implementation of the Treaty of Ghent and follow-up agreements with Great Britain.
8. Suggest that some of the territorial postwar prospects Americans had in mind for future acquisition included the following: whites completing the settlement and organization of all of the Ohio Territory, the Indiana Territory, and the Louisiana Territory, regardless of a continuing Indian presence in theses territories; negotiating with Britain over their competing Oregon claims and securing all of Florida from Spain; and developing long-term political, economic, and military plans and ideas to obtain Texas, California, and New Mexico from Spain at some point in the future.
9. Write a concise and effective conclusion.
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