The Bombardment of Fort McHenry

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In the United States, Fort McHenry stands tall in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Fort McHenry has played a large role in American history ever since its construction was finished in the year 1800. The most prominent piece of history associated with Fort McHenry is when it was bombed in the year 1814. It was during the War of 1812, a war against Britain over the issue of Britain harassing America’s ships and sailors. America was doing poorly in the war until Fort McHenry was bombed. The bombing of Fort McHenry played a pivotal role in the War of 1812 because it was a turning point in the war, it instilled pride into the American people, and lives on to this day through the National Anthem of the United States.
In 1812, on June 18th, The United States of America declared war on Great Britain. One of the reasons why was that British sailors were capturing American sailors and stealing their ships. This act called impressment would not be tolerated by the president, James Madison.
“Regarding the impressment of American citizens-and Mr. Madison affirmed that thousands had been impressed-Mr. Madison admitted no possibility of compromise whatever.” British ships were invading American waters and attacking American ships, like in the incident between the Chesapeake and the Leopard. The American ship, the Chesapeake, was approached by the British ship, Leopard. When the Leopard approached the Chesapeake, it requested to search the ship for deserters. The Chesapeake denied the request, and when the messenger from the Leopard returned to the Leopard, the Leopard fired on the Chesapeake. The Chesapeake was unready for combat, and only managed to fire one shot at the Leopard. Three sailors died and 18 were wounded.
Blockades were enfo...

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