June 18th: War of 1812 Bicentennial

Tomorrow (Monday) is the Bicentennial of the start of the War of 1812. Boston’s own USS Constitution was an integral part of the war, in which it earned its name “Old Ironsides”.

Here is an old shot I have of the Constitution during a tall ships event many years ago:

On June 18th, 1812, President James Madison signed the official declaration of war on Britain. I am not an expert on the War of 1812, but I understand the driving force behind the declaration of war to be the growing tensions between the US and Britain. These were caused by a variety of factors, including seizure of American ships by the British, The British desire to impede American trade with France (Britain had been fighting the Napoleonic wars with France at the time) and the British support for a Native American Nation which would potentially succeed from the United States.

You can go see some 1812 history at the new exhibit at the USS Constitution Museum. The Constitution will be a center point of next week’s Haborfest and tall ships visitation, which we will have more on shortly. The Constitution is expected to be brought out to the harbor for a turnaround on July 4th, starting at 11AM.