Question

The War Hawks demanded war against Britain in 1812 to ______________________.

• A. eliminate the Native American threat in the Northwest.
• B. appease the New England states.
• C. assimilate the Native Americans into U.S. society.
• D. gain control of New Orleans.
• E. make the United States less dependent on imports.

Answer 1

The correct option is A eliminate the Native American threat in the Northwest.

The War Hawks, led by Henry Clay in Congress, were mainly Westerners interested in eliminating the threat of the Native Americans in the Northwest. The Westerners believed that the British had incited and supplied the Native Americans against them. The War Hawks also were interested in expanding the United States into Canada. The New England states (B) opposed the War of 1812, even meeting in Hartford to protest the war in 1814. The War of 1812 was not an attempt to assimilate the Native Americans into American society (C). New Orleans, a key city at the mouth of the Mississippi River, was already under American control when the war broke out (D); it remained under American control thanks to Andrew Jackson's defeat of a British force that attacked the city. As a result of the Embargo of 1807 and the War of 1812, the United States began to develop its own industries (E). However, this was a result of the war, not a goal of the war.