war+of+1812+NR

Star Spangled Banner  Can you see by the light of dawn...  What we saluted proudly at the end of the night  that had stripes and stars, and through the battle  We watched over the ramparts as they blew in the wind  And the light of all the bombs  Gave us prrof that the flag still waved  Does the American flag still wave...  Over the land of the free and home of the brave (America)? January 1804 Dear Journal, This is one of the many journal entries that I am planning to include in this book. I hope that if anyone finds it they will take their time to consider all of the important events that have taken place before, after, and during the war of 1812.

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I will start off by telling you about myself. My name is Jonathon Smith, and I am a U.S soldier. I spend my time serving my country both on land and overseas. The part that I don’t like about being a soldier is spending time away from my family. I have two brothers and my parents have unfortunately died a couple of years ago. I will not go into too much detail about myself for now, but you will know a lot more about me once you finish reading this journal.

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The reason why I became a soldier was because I will do whatever it takes to make sure that our country is not in the mercy of brainless pirates for any longer.

April 1804 I am very nervous right now, but I am in high spirits. Our town of Tripolii has declared war with the United States. I believe that we will the win the war, but I still can not help to stop feeling nervous for the events that are about to come. )ASK ME ABOUT THIS) January 1804 Both Britain and France have decided that if they wanted to win the war then they would need to stop countries from supplying war materials to one another. Therefore, Britain has just passed laws that allow it them search ships that carry war supplies to France. March 1806 Today the British has stopped our ship, and they thought that my best friend Joe was a wander?????. They then took him away and forced him to serve in either the army or navy. Today has been very upsetting for me. June 1807 While our ship the Chesapeake was sailing, a British ship tried to stop our ship and take away four of our soldiers (thankfully I was not one of those four). The captain of the British ship kept on yelling at us, ordering us to stop our ship. However, we were brave enough to just ignore their loud commands, and we just kept on sailing. Date? I strongly disagree with the Embargo Act that Thomas Jefferson has just passed. A major part of my life counts on trading with other countries, so now I will have to find out how to ship letters to my friends and families in different countries. December 1808 It turns out that I was not the only one who disagreed with the Embargo Act that President Jefferson was foolish enough to pass. In total, he has recieved 199 seperate petitions from citizens asking him to stop the Embargo Act. Take that President Jefferson! August 1809 Once again there has been another law passed ( the Non intercourse Act). This law is (again) very unpopular with most of the people in the United State's. However, this time the law was passed by Congress and it bans trade only with Britain and France. May 1810 CONNECT FIRST BRITAIN HELPING INDIANS I am writing to tell you more about my brother??? Tecumesh. People say that he is one of the most powerful Indian leaders of his time. I, myself, am quite pleased and proud of all of his accomplishments that he has achieved. My brother Tecumesh also has a big imagiation. Recently he had a dream where the American Indians of the Northwest Territory were united into a goup, so they could fight against Amerian Settlers. I hope that everything goes well for him and that he will be able to make his dream become real. New Page I have just recieved a piece of mail???NO MAIL from Tecumesh that has just about broken my heart. The basically says that his dream was ruined because of the Battle of Tippecanoe, which took place in November. April 1811 Recently the War Hawks have been trying to get the USA to decalre war on Britain. The War Hawks are members of the goverment who want to start a war with Brtitain. The War Hawks think that Britain is trying to stop the United States from becoming a great country. New Page I myself am a member of the oposistion group. We are mainly interested in trade with Britain. Oposistions are the main enemy of the War Hawks. CHECK WITH THE CHECKLIST HERE SEEMS TO BE SOME MISSING PAGES

August 1813 Our captain has asked for a flag to be made, so big that the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance (made before the British come to attack our town of Baltimore). Everyone is working together to make a flag that the British will remember. It’s amazing to how much can be done when people work together towards a common goal.

June 11th I am beginning to think that the United States when they declared war with Britain. Not only does Britain have more soldiers than the U.S, but Britain is also one of the most powerful armies in the world. ||

September 1814 At 7 AM this morning our flag was ready to meet the enemy. As soon as the British came they kept on firing bombs at us for 25 hours straight, nonstop.

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During this time I was able to see Key, Col. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes watching the battle with uneasiness. They knew that as long as the gunfire continued, Fort McHenry had not given in. However, long before the crack of dawn there came a sudden and mysterious silence.

People

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What they did not know was that the British land attack on Baltimore had been deserted. The British then thought that Baltimore was too much money to put into winning a war, so they left. As soon as Americans saw the British leaving, they immediately felt a feeling of victory and astonishment, for a small militia had won against one of the most powerful armed forces in the world.

Ship sailing on sea

August 1814 There is so much action going on right now that it is to hard for me to take in all at once. Just last night, our grand white house went up into flames. The United States was angry, so they bombed Britain to get revenge. Hopefully our revenge was worth it, and we will be able to win the war after all of the effort that we are putting into this intense war.

August 1814 News has spread about our White House being burnt into flames by the British. Dolly Madison (President James Madison’s wife) was very courageous because she risked her life so she could save the picture that she thought would be important to the following generations. Imagine that: taking a risk to be killed just to save a painting, wow!

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Luckily Dolly and her husband were able to escape Washington D.C just ahead of the British. Everyone is thankful that President James Madison and Dolly were safe, but it was displeasure to see the White House burst into flames. October 1814 I am very disappointed in my cousin, Edward Bay. Edward Bay is on the British side, and he was sent by the British to send peace notes to Com. Dearborn (an American). His whole way down to meet with Dearborn he spied on all the American Forts that he stopped at.

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As if this weren’t bad enough, he never got stopped for walking around the American forts, or asked about he was doing. I think that it was a wrong decision for Edward to spy on American campground, because he could have easily taken advantage of the soldiers by harming them.

Soldier (person above ) walking around American forts

November 1814 Lately I have seen many privateers around Massachusetts. Privateers are people that own their own boat and are told to go out and attack British ships (so they could get to keep what they find on the British ships). In my point of view, I think that privateers shouldn’t attack British ships and take things that do not belong to them, because it is considered stealing, which is one of the seven deadly sins. Group of soldiers label them privateers January 1814 This is the last page in my journal entry, and I decided to fill up this page before I get sicker. You see, a couple days I got wounded in my chest. My doctor says that I may not live for much longer. In case I am to pass away anytime shortly, I would like for my wife and children to receive this journal that I have kept during my time serving as a soldier. I would like to tell them that I love them, and that even though I have fought for my country for several years, they are still number one. If anyone else is to find this journal, then I hope that they realize that to be a soldier you don’t only need strength, but you need courage and the power to never give up. I believe that I have done everything that I can for my country, during my four years of fighting: mission accomplished.

June 11th I am beginning to think that the United States when they declared war with Britain. Not only does Britain have more soldiers than the U.S, but Britain is also one of the most powerful armies in the world. __ Lots of people in New England, including myself don’t want to go to war because we didn't want to fight the mighty British Army. However, others think they could handle it. Unfortunately for myself, President James Madison took a vote and decided to go to war. __ Lately, I have seen many privateers around Boston. Privateers are people that own their own ship and are told to go attack and steal from the British ships. Many privateers have succeeded and they were able to capture many British ships. During this time, Canada was owned by Britain. The United States decided to burn down the British capitol building. I hope that this move was worth it, and that we will not regret what we just did.