There were several issues in the years leading up to 1812, the Royal Navy had stopped

American ships, seized sailors, and made them join Britain's sailors. Many of those sailors were,
in fact, Royal Navy deserters, but some were not. Britain's reaction to America's complaints was
to finally cancel impressments, before the war began, but news didn't reach Washington until
after the US had declared war. Other issues were trade embargoes, and the seizure of American
ships stemmed from Britain's very long, bloody, and much larger war against Napoleon. Britain
and France blockaded each other, meaning that any ship bringing supplies to the other side was
liable to be seized, whether it was American or any other countries' vessel. Then there was the
native issue: Pulitzer-prize winning American historian Alan Taylor describes in detail the almost
paranoid wave of terror Americans felt toward natives whose homeland was blocking US
expansion westward. Natives had begun defending their territory from waves of settlers, much to
the annoyance of American politicians, who were also upset that Britain had a peaceful trading
relationship with the natives.
Newspapers charged that Britain was supplying guns and encouraging natives to attack
Americans and frequently the papers called for the outright extermination of the natives. The
biggest issue, though, was the chance to use those other things as an excuse to invade, and
forcibly annex Canada, which was governed by Britain. US had 20 times as many people, and
Thomas Jefferson called it "a mere matter of marching." Finally, the legislators known as the
"War Hawks" stampeded the president into declaring war. Canada, while outnumbered on the
battlefields by as much as ten to one, thrashed the invaders, and sent them retreating not only
back over the border, but beyond: US forces surrendered Detroit, Buffalo and Fort Dearborn
(Chicago) in the process. For the Canadians and the natives, who jointly made up two thirds of
the defense, it was a huge victory in a situation in which defeat would have meant the end of

Canada. Things went so badly for the US that the seven New England states publicly discussed
seceding from the Union.
That discussion continued right up until the end of the war. Vermont spent the war selling
vital war materials to the Royal Navy. British went on the attack, taking large portions of US
territory, and, famously, burning the White House. There were a few American victories, mostly
at sea, but the US Navy could not stop the Royal Navy from blockading American ports, and
devastating the economy. Then, back in Europe, Britain won its war against Napoleon, and while
it suddenly had the capacity to send very large numbers of battle-hardened troops to North
America, the British were weary of war, and had no desire to hold onto the American territory
they had already taken. Americans knew they could never hold off that many troops, so when the
British offered a return to the old borders, the Americans quickly agreed. This, by the way,
destroys the notion that the war was "a Second Revolutionary War", since Britain's actions make
it perfectly clear that it had no desire to undo the revolution when it could have easily used those
troops to do so.