Wars

1800's

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States against Great Britain. The United States declared war in 1812 because the U.S. was dealing with impressment of their sailors along with going against American expansion and being limited with trade since France and Great Britain were still in a war. Due to an ill prepared military, on August 24, 1814, British troops marched into Washington, D.C., and set the Capitol building and White House on fire. Devastation had struck the nation yet more was yet to come. Following this, on September 13, 1814, British warships began firing bombs and rockets on to Fort McHenry, which protected the city of Baltimore's harbor. The attack continued for twenty-five hours while the nation awaited news of Baltimore’s fate. During this time, Francis Scott Key, an american poet who was miles out in the water was able to make out the American flag waving above Fort McHenry. He knew then that the British troops were retreating from Baltimore and that they had survived the lengthy battle and stopped the advancement. This led him to write a song celebrating the victory known as the star spangled banner which eventually became the national anthem.

The Civil War was fought between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy) of the United States of America and lasted from April 12, 1861 until May 10, 1865. People tend to think that slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. It wasn't. Slavery was a defining trait of the Civil War while the main cause was actually federalism. At the time, Abraham Lincoln was the acting President of the United States while Jefferson Davis had taken office as the President of the Confederacy. The Union General was Ulysses S. Grant while the Confederate General was Robert E. Lee. Many battles took place over the 4 years including the Battle of Antietam, Battle of Shiloh, alongside many others. During two days at Shiloh on the banks of the Tennessee River, more Americans fell there than in all previous American wars combined.The war ended with the Confederate surrender at Appomatox Courthouse which is known to be the most honorable surrender in history. Lee starts taking his ribbons and medals off to give to Grant but he is stopped and Grant and tells him to keep the medals and just tell his troops to go home. Eventually the North and South are brought back together to form a more perfect nation.



1900's

World War I was a war fought by the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The Allied Powers consisted of the United Kingdom, France and Russia while the Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary. It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. When Russia dropped out of the war, Russian revolts killed Czar Nicholas and everyone is getting ready to attack England and France. The U.S. didn't want that to happen so they stepped in to help protect them. People thought it would take at least a year for the U.S. to enter war yet our first soldiers got to France within 7 weeks and the whole U.S. military would end up being there within 6 months.Once the war ended, the Treaty of Versailles was signed by the U.S., England, Italy and France. These were points that gave freedom to nations and established a more stable international government alongside with having Germany pay reparations to France and signing a document stating that all of WWI was its fault.

World War II was fought by the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers from July 28, 1914 until November 11, 1918. The Axis Powers contatined countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan while the Allied Powers had countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States.Hitler, the dictator of Germany at the time was looking to expand his territory so he moved into Poland and said he wouldn't do it again. This happened numerous times throughout the years and eventually led to Hitlers rule of many countries. At the same time, Hitler was capturing and enslaving millions of Jews, Christians, and Non-Aryan race folk to send them to work camps and death camps so that the Germans could eventually rule the world. The U.S. was thrown into the war when the Japanese attacked the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor. Despite many losses since no one was ready for the attack, the U.S. unleashed it's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and afterwards, they dropped pieces of paper all over Japan saying "Surrender Now" but they don’t believe us so we drop another at Nagasaki which was much bigger. The war ended in a Allied victory in which the Japanese Emperor was brought onto a ship he sunk in Pearl Harbor to sign the treaty ending war.