Table of Contents In this book you will read about the War of 1812 from three perspectives Each perspective is based on real things that happened to real people who fought in or lived during the war As you’ll see the same event can look different depending on one’s point of view Chapter 1 4 Thomas Williams American Soldier Chapter 2 1 4 Oliver Miller British Soldier Chapter 3 2 2 James Scott American Privateer Look Look Again 30 Glossary 3 1 Learn More 3 1 Index 32 About the Author 32
4 1 Again we have taken up arms against the British When our Congress declared war on June 18 1812 I was ready to join the fight For years the British navy had been chasing down American ships and impressing seamen into their service But the British went too far in the summer of 1807 That June sailors on the British Leopard fired on our Chesapeake and boarded her They Thomas Williams American Soldier
5 believed the ship carried deserters from the British navy The Leopard took four men and left the Chesapeake damaged We were furious when we heard the news The British were acting as if we were still their colonies We could not sit by and let them abuse us so I followed the news closely to see how our government and President Thomas Jefferson would react But the answers were not simple Our nation Impressment of Americans by the British was one cause of the War of 1812
