Defensive cannons from the War of 1812 in front of the Barnstable County Courthouse (Adam Raguesa/WBUR)
This coming Monday marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and when we think of that war, we usually picture events to our south — the burning of Washington, D.C., or Francis Scott Key composing the national anthem in the Chesapeake. But New England has its own War of 1812 history.
Despite having led the charge in the Revolution, New Englanders were vehemently opposed to America's second war with the British. So much so, that serious politicians openly discussed seceding from the Union.
At the start of the 19th century, Europe was embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars. France and Britain were at each other's throats, the United States traded with both of them, and neither was happy about that. They started to harass American merchant vessels, Britain in particular, to the point of literally kidnapping sailors off U.S. ships and drafting them into the Royal Navy. In euphemistic Brit-speak that was called "impressment."