ABSTRACT
On June 1, 1812, President James Madison asked congress to declare war against Great Britain since everyone could "behold" that Britain was already in "a state of war against the United States". The British, having defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, devote its full might to the American War. Events in the South would prove critical. Napoleon was shrewd. Although he was not really willing to let U.S. goods flow freely into British ports, in November 1810, he said that he would allow open trade. Congress responded by enacting Macon's Bill No. 2 into law, freezing all trade with Britain in March 1811. These trans-Atlantic diplomacies coincided with warfare in the West between the militia led by Indiana Territory governor William Henry Harrison and the followers of two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa. Although western troubles had helped spark the War of 1812, conflict between whites and Indians did not necessarily lead to alliances among Indians.
