It can be said that neither the United States nor Britain wanted their dispute to end in war, but at this point war was unavoidable. Despite the fact that both the French and the British violated U.S. neutral rights, the British violations appeared to be more blatant because of the British navy's practice of impressing American seamen. As time progressed so did Americans' ambition for more land, though the western settlers had for decades been gradually pushing the Native Americans farther and farther westward they wanted more. Ultimately the British navy's practice of impressing American seamen and the ambition of western Americans for more land led to a war that would resolve everything, the War of 1812, which marked a dramatic point in American history. It is thru this war that Americans gain confidence as to their abilities of self-protection and pride in their new nation. The War of 1812 also gave Americans the opportunity to gain much needed respect from nations who before this had speculated their abilities to protect themselves from other nations. Finally, it contributed if not caused the death of the Federalist party.
             The nationalism that the War of 1812 brought to Americans without a doubt marked a dramatic turning point in American history. It was thanks to this on going growth of nationalism brought upon by the war itself that encouraged Americans to fight harder and in some level win the war. Though it was due to the Treaty of Ghent that the war was stopped America stood more to gain than Britain. The terms were: to put a halt to the fighting, the return of all conquered territory to the prewar claimant, and recognition of the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States. Nationalism was the United States first step into becoming a greatly respected, self-sufficient nation.
             The United States gained much needed respect from fellow nations who in the past had doubted thei...