ABSTRACT
By 1812 Britain had worked to limit the Continental System by opening up particular lines of trade. Engaging with the French directly in the Iberian peninsula and creating a network of bases in the central Mediterranean secured some useful markets. From 1809, the British retook a number of French island colonies in the Caribbean, thereby denying their opponents regional commercial advantages. The new order in Portugal and Spain after 1808 had also enabled Britain to break into those countries’ colonial markets. But economic conditions remained tough and the struggle for international trade landed the British in 1812 in a tense diplomatic dispute with the USA. The disagreement in itself was resolvable but the distance between London and Washington led to a delay in diplomatic exchanges which in turn degenerated into war. This outcome was almost the last thing desired by the British government and by significant sections of American public opinion. But enough enthusiasm prevailed in parts of the USA to energize the war in the west and threaten an invasion of Upper Canada.
