The Battle of Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area, which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as "Michilimackinac".
A scratch British, Canadian and Native American force had captured the island in the opening weeks of the war. An American expedition was mounted in 1814 to recover the island. The American force advertised its presence by attempting to attack British outposts elsewhere on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, so when they eventually landed on Mackinac Island, the garrison was prepared to meet them. As the Americans advanced on the fort from the north, they were ambushed by Native Americans, and forced to re-embark with heavy casualties.
Mackinac Island, and the Canadian North West Company's trading post at Sault Ste. Marie nearby were vital posts in the fur trade, which dominated the economy and way of life of the Native American nations in the area known as the Old Northwest. Most of the Native Americans were opposed to United States expansion and encroachment in the area.
On 18 July 1812, a mixed force of British regular soldiers, Canadian voyageurs and Native Americans captured Mackinac Island in the siege of Fort Mackinac before the American defenders knew that war had been declared between the United States and Britain. The news of this success influenced many more Native tribes who had previously been neutral or undecided to rally to the British cause, contributing to several more British victories over the next year. The British meanwhile abandoned their own defences at St. Joseph Island and concentrated their forces at Mackinac Island.
For the rest of the year and through much of 1813, the British hold on Mackinac was secure since they also held Detroit, which the Americans would have to recapture before attacking Mackinac. Then on 10 September 1813, the Americans won the decisive naval Battle of Lake Erie, which allowed them to recover Detroit and defeat the retreating British and Native force at the Battle of the Thames. Although it was too late in the year to allow the Americans to mount an expedition to recover Mackinac before the lakes froze in winter, they had nevertheless cut the British supply lines to the post. The British garrison, commanded by Captain Richard Bullock of the 41st Regiment of Foot, were placed on half rations and also procured some fish and maize locally but were suffering severe shortages by the end of the winter.
The early republic period saw the United States move from the weak Articles of Confederation to the federal Constitution ratified in 1788, with the Bill of Rights added in 1791. George Washington served two terms as president (1789–1797), establishing precedents for executive authority, and the federal capital moved permanently to Washington D.C. in 1800. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the nation's territory for roughly $15 million, opening vast trans-Mississippi lands to American expansion. The War of 1812 against Britain ended inconclusively but produced a surge of American national identity and eliminated most British support for Indigenous resistance east of the Mississippi. The Northwest Indian Wars (1785–1795) and the Creek War (1813–1814) broke Indigenous confederacies that had resisted US expansion. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily balanced slave and free states as the nation expanded westward, but embedded the contradiction of slavery in every subsequent territorial debate.
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