United States declares war

18 June 1812

Madison signs the declaration after divided votes in the House and Senate.

Participants

James Madison
United States Congress
Federalist and Republican constituencies

Outcome

The United States formally entered war with Britain.

Why it matters

Narrow, sectional votes exposed a war launched without national political consensus.

Location evidence

38.889, -77.009 · city precision

Coordinates locate the named site, city, or broad region; they do not reconstruct unit movements.

Where it sits in the story

This record belongs to a connected military, political, and human sequence. The chapter supplies causes, consequences, competing perspectives, and the limits of the surviving evidence.

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Evidence behind this event

War of 1812 DeclarationU.S. House of Representatives · primary document guide
The declaration and congressional context.