Takeaway/Reaction 4/2

Today in history we were put into groups based on which event we thought was the most influential in causing the War of 1812. I was originally in the Chesapeake Affair group. The Chesapeake Affair was when the British shot at American ships, which eventually led to Thomas Jefferson signing the Embargo Act. The three other possible causes of the war were Impressment, the Orders in Council, and Incitement. After coming up with reasons why the Chesapeake Affair was the main cause of the war and listening to other groups argue that their event was the most important, I decided that Incitement was the main cause. Incitement refers to the British arming and organizing American Indians and inciting violence in them against colonists moving west. This was the only one of the four that was happening on American soil and posing a real threat to the colonists. Impressment and the Chesapeake Affair were threatening to the colonists, but not in the same war-like manner as Incitement. I did not think that the Orders in Council were the main cause, because they were designed to mainly hurt France, not the U.S. It was not something Britain did in an attack on America.