The War of 1812: America’s Forgotten War (Archived)

About This Exhibit:

This site has been archived. By clicking the exhibition link below, you are leaving the University of Delaware Library's website. Pages in this exhibition may be out of date, and links may be broken and/or no longer maintained.

Take me to the archived exhibition.

The year 2012 marks the two–hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812, which was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire from 1812 to 1815.

War was declared in 1812 as a consequence of tensions between the two nations over international trade and American expansionism, although initial support for the war split sharply along party lines. Although sometimes regarded as American’s second war for independence, the conflict has largely faded from public memory, becoming one of America’s forgotten wars. The items on display document the war as experienced and perceived by civilian noncombatants, as seen in their personal correspondence and in the printed newspapers which provided them with updates on the progress of the war.

This single case exhibition was originally on display in the Morris Library Information Room from May 1-31, 2012.

Tags: United States–History–War of 1812; Documenting the War of 1812