Who Won the War of 1812?

The War of 1812 was declared by United States against Great Britain, and it ended in late 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which did not declare either side as the victor. Instead, the treaty roughly reinstated the conditions that were in effect before the war and did not answer or address any of the issues over which the war started. The War of 1812 was fought over a variety of issues, including maritime trade restrictions imposed on the US by Great Britain, the US wanting to expand into Britain’s territory of Canada and impressment, a practice in which Great Britain forcibly removed about 6,000 American seamen from their vessels and claimed that they were British citizens.

More about the War of 1812:

• The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the US, was written by Francis Scott Key about an 1814 battle he witnessed at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, during the War of 1812.


• The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814, but because long-distance communication was slow and the treaty had yet to be ratified by the US Congress, battles continued to be fought until February 1815.


• The White House was burned down during the War of 1812.