Outside Source 1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nations Honor This article, to me, was mainly

about economic disputes between the United States, and Britain. The first topic that the author of this source talks about is the modern tendency to seek materialistic motives and economic factors in all human relations. He states that those factors have greatly concealed one of the basic causes of War of 1812. I enjoyed reading about the war and its ups and downs, causes, and learning what the war hawks were. Historians have mentioned the disillusionment that followed the failure of the attempt to make the world safe for democracy, and they are constantly searching for hidden economic factors behind all wars. American commerce statistics in the first decade of the nineteenth century will show that the war of 1812 was the most uneconomic war the United States has ever fought. The standard explanation of the war, according to students of the time period, was the election of 1810, by providing 63 new faces in a house of 142, who represented a popular disappointment with the Jeffersonian system and supplied the new 12th congress with ground war hawks. One of the nations mini debates about the causes of war in 1812, was a western war with eastern labels. In this article it talks about young war hawks, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Felix Grundy, and how they were determined to find Americas Position in the world. Historians are searching for reasons why the west should have demanded a war for free trade and sailors rights. Historians are most concerned with western war aims. Some of the basic causes of war that have been represented over time include: the desire for Canadian, Indian land, the fear the British back up the Indians conspiracy, concern over declining prices of agricultural products and the restriction of markets abroad. The article says that the interpretation has a weak point in it which is virtually ignoring the vote on the declaration of war in June 1812. The west was influenced by economic and patriotic motives; also that any explanation of the war must place emphasis on the southern congressmen first. Another economic interpretation is one about the terms of declining farm prices and the restriction of markets abroad. One historian suggested that the declining price of agricultural products, mainly is the Mississippi Valley, might have been a factor in the Western demand for War. One man from the named Hugh Nelson stated that he felt that that gaining recognition of our neutral right was unlikely, because the war hawks suggested a territorial war, thus was begun by an invasion of Canada. He also stated that Canada could not be conquered, and mentioned that if we even came close to conquering them, that it would not enforce our rights. One way he said to enforce our rights was by way of great maritime force, however the nation was dumbfounded to raise and support. The nation soon began war with Britain. The Republicans followed the war hawks to war. The war hawks could not have provided skill and energy had the Republicans not join the war. I am torn between choosing the book or this article. The book has many great qualities and talks about all of the mini debates clearly. However, this article talks about the mini debates and goes into depth about them. I would recommend

choosing the book for a short read about the debates of the War of 1812, and the article if the student wanted to learn more about elections, economic interpretations, and the war hawks