We tend to think of widespread protests against going to war as something from relatively recent history. Yet 200 years ago the United States was badly split over the decision to declare war on Britain.The march toward the War of 1812 had been going on for years, and the causes of the war were familiar to Americans thanks to extensive newspaper coverage. But parts of the country were not convinced, and opposition to the war was forceful.
The Congressional debates over the war were mostly held in secret, and were rumored to be quite nasty. And even after President James Madison signed the war declaration on June 18, 1812, protests continued.
New England governors actively sought to obstruct the war effort. In Baltimore a riotous mob attacked war opponents, and nearly killed the father of Robert E. Lee. The mob did murder a well-known hero of the Revolutionary War, James Lingan.
The bitterness somehow cooled down, and opposition to the war eventually faded. But for the summer of 1812 the United States was being rocked from within even as it prepared to fight the British in Canada and battle the Royal Navy on the high seas.
More: Opposition to the War of 1812
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Image: President James Madison/Library of Congress
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