On June 1, 1812, President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress, recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. After Madison’s speech, the House of Representatives quickly voted (79 to 49) to declare war, and the Senate by 19 to 13. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812 when Madison signed the measure into law. This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to declare war in American history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as “Mr. Madison’s War.”
The declaration of war was passed by the smallest margin recorded on a war vote in the United States Congress. On May 11, Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot and killed by an assassin, resulting in a change of the British government, putting Lord Liverpool in power. Liverpool wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. He issued a repeal of the Orders in Council, but the U.S. was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic.
1812 – 1814
Kansas (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- 1883 Military Pensioners (a few men of 1812)
- Atchison County
- Barbour County
- Barton County
- Bourbon County
- Brown County
- Butler County
- Chase County
- Cherokee County
- Clay County
- Crawford County
- Dickinson County
- Doniphan County
- Douglas County
- Edwards County
- Elk County
- Ellis County
- Ellsworth County
- Ford County
- Franklin County
- Graham County
- Greenwood County
- Hamilton County
- Harper County
- Harvey County
- Hodgeman County
- Jackson County
- Jefferson County
- Jewell County
- Kearney County
- Kingman County
- Labette County
- Lane County
- Leavenworth County
- Lincoln County
- Linn County
- Lyon County
- Marion County
- Marshall County
- McPherson County
- Meade County
- Miami County
- Mitchell County
- Montgomery County
- Morris County
- Nemaha County
- Osborne County
- Ottawa County
- Phillips County
- Pottawatomie County
- Pratt County
- Rawlins County
- Reno County
- Rice County
- Riley County
- Rooks County
- Rush County
- Russell County
- Saline County
- Shawnee County
- Smith County
- Stafford County
- Sumner County
- Thomas County
- Trego County
- Wabaunsee County
- Washington County
- Woodson County
- Wyandotte County
Kansas Subscription Military Databases
- The General Society of the War of 1812, 1976 Bicentennial Supplement to the 1972 Register Robert Glenn Thurtle Editor – Free Index
- The Roster of the General Society of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 Papers, 1789-1815
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
- War of 1812 Service Records
- War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815
- War of 1812: Miscellaneous Canadian Records
- Register of the General Society of the War of 1812