<P> From the outbreak of war with Napoleonic France , Britain had enforced a naval blockade to choke off neutral trade to France , which the US contested as illegal under international law . To man the blockade , Britain impressed American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy . Incidents such as the Chesapeake -- Leopard affair inflamed anti-British sentiment in the US . In 1811 , the British were in turn outraged by the Little Belt affair , in which 11 British sailors died . Britain supplied Indians who raided American settlers on the frontier , which hindered American expansion and provoked resentment . Historians debate whether the desire to annex some or all of British North America contributed to the American decision to go to war . On June 18 , 1812 , US President James Madison , after heavy pressure from the War Hawks in Congress , signed the American declaration of war into law . </P>
<P> From the outbreak of war with Napoleonic France , Britain had enforced a naval blockade to choke off neutral trade to France , which the US contested as illegal under international law . To man the blockade , Britain impressed American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy . Incidents such as the Chesapeake -- Leopard affair inflamed anti-British sentiment in the US . In 1811 , the British were in turn outraged by the Little Belt affair , in which 11 British sailors died . Britain supplied Indians who raided American settlers on the frontier , which hindered American expansion and provoked resentment . Historians debate whether the desire to annex some or all of British North America contributed to the American decision to go to war . On June 18 , 1812 , US President James Madison , after heavy pressure from the War Hawks in Congress , signed the American declaration of war into law . </P>
when did the united states declare war on great britain
when did the united states declare war on great britain
June 18 , 1812
June 18 , 1812