Background, Causes and Government Direction of the War

Adams, Henry. -- History of the United States of America during the administrations of James Madison. -- [New York] : Library of America, [1986]. -- 1436 p.

• Originally published as the last two volumes of his History of the United States. -- New York : Scribner's, 1889-1891. -- 4 vols. This edition brings the material relating to the War of 1812 into one volume.

Burt, A.L. -- The United States, Great Britain and British North America from the Revolution to the establishment of peace after the War of 1812. -- New Haven, Conn. : Yale Univ. Press, 1940. -- 448 p.

• Although dated, this is still considered one of the best guides to the convoluted diplomatic relations between Britain and the United States during these years.

Graham, Gerald S. -- Sea power and British North America, 1783-1830 : a study in British colonial policy. -- Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Univ. Press, 1941. -- 302 p. -- (Harvard historical studies, volume XLVI)

• Still an excellent analysis of the economic and mercantile background to the war.

Hitsman, J. Mackay. -- "Sir George Prevost's conduct of the Canadian War of 1812". -- Canadian Historical Association. -- Report of the annual meeting. -- (1962). -- P. 34-43

• A very important article in our understanding of the defensive nature of the war and of Prevost's instructions from London.

Horsman, Reginald. -- The causes of the War of 1812. -- New York : A.S. Barnes, 1962. -- 345 p. -- (A perpetua book)

_____. -- Expansion and American Indian policy, 1783-1812. -- [S.l.] : Michigan State Univ. Press, 1967. -- 209 p.

_____. -- The frontier in the formative years, 1783-1815. -- New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970. -- 237 p.

_____. -- "On to Canada : manifest destiny and United States strategy in the War of 1812". -- The Michigan historical review. -- Vol. 13, no. 2 (Fall 1987). -- P. 1-24

Mahon, John K. -- "British command decisions in the northern campaigns of the War of 1812". -- The Canadian historical review.-- Vol. 46, no. 3 (September 1965). -- P. 219-237

Perkins, Bradford, ed. -- The causes of the War of 1812 : national honor or national interest? -- New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962. -- 120 p.

• A collection of essays by American historians.

Stagg, J.C.A. --"James Madison and the coercion of Great Britain : Canada, the West Indies, and the War of 1812". -- The William and Mary Quarterly. -- 3rd series, Vol. 38, no. 1 (January 1981). -- P. 3-34

_____. -- Mr. Madison's war : politics, diplomacy, and warfare in the early American republic, 1783-1830. -- Princeton, N.J. : Princeton Univ. Press, 1983. -- 538 p.

White, Patrick C.T.:-- A nation on trial : America and the War of 1812. -- New York : J. Wiley, 1965. -- 177 p. -- (America in crisis)

Wright, J. Leitch. -- Britain and the American frontier, 1783-1815. -- Athens, Ga. : Univ. of Georgia Press, 1975. -- 251 p.

• A critical assessment of British objectives along the whole frontier, with the Canadas, the Maritimes, the Northwest, Southwest and Florida.