[ExSoldier]

Many of those engagements were naval---a fact that contributed to the start of the war....the illegal impressment of American sailors into British service...and much of the land battles (excepting the sack of DC and New Orleans and I'm not sure if Louisiana was actually a state then.) But you quibble.

Did we have tank battles with nazi Germany in DC or New York? Has our populace had to defend itself from a determined enemy on our home soil LIKE THIS? We have always been isolated and insulated from the direct effects of foreign combat, unlike most of the rest of the world especially in the 20th century. Ask the French what it felt like during WWII.

[virgil]

What about the Japanese bombing Dutch Harbor?

[John H K]

Many of those engagements were naval---a fact that contributed to the start of the war....the illegal impressment of American sailors into British service

The main reason the war started is that a lot of Americans wanted to take Canada from Britain. The impressment helped turn public opinion against Britain, but it largely was a convenient excuse to attempt to invade Canada.

The congressmen from the Northeast coastal regions that had their citizens being impressed were OPPOSED to the war (because it basically ended American international trade for years); the people that were FOR the war were southerners and "westerners" inland, that were keen on invading Canada.