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It was a war almost nobody wanted. To the British, embroiled with Napoleon, conflict with the United States was an unnecessary irritant. The Canadians were too busy trying to survive in the northern wilderness to look further afield than their own fences. Most Americans, especially from the New England states, did not want war and in fact, did their best to stay out of it even after the conflict had commenced.
This wilderness skirmish, as the British saw it, found its roots in the general European conflict. Napoleon and the British had fought each other to a stand still by 1803. French armies dominated the continent and the Royal Navy ruled the waves. The elephant and the whale could not find a common battle ground to get at each other's throats. Instead, they turned to economic warfare. Napoleon forbade the landing of British ships in European ports. The British responded by preventing the French ships from leaving those same ports. The result was that neutral shipping took over most of the European trade, much to America's profit.
As the commercial war intensified, the London's Orders in Council became more and more restrictive on neutral shipping. These extraordinary measures brought Anglo-American animosity to a head in both the areas of "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights". By 1807 the British warned that the Royal Navy would seize any ship that was bound for Napoleonic ports, regardless of nationality. By 1812 over 400 American ships had been taken - many within sight of the U.S. coast. The issue of impressment further heightened tensions. Harsh conditions in the Royal Navy encouraged sailors to "jump ship" whenever a berth could be obtained (an American merchant-trader or warship). To recover the delinquents, the Royal Navy unceremoniously boarded American ships and removed deserters, sometimes taking American citizens along as well.
Britain showed little concern and considerable disdain for her former colony. As far as Britannia was concerned, the civilized world was at war with Napoleon and the American complaints were insignificant. For the U.S. administration, America's honour, indeed her standing among nations was at stake. She was still being treated as a mere colony.
There were other irritants. The British blockade had worsened a slumping cotton and tobacco market in the Southern states. Settlers and land agents longed to expand into the Indiana and Illinois Territories. This western march was resisted by the natives of the area who started to talk of a political confederacy of tribes from the Great Lakes to the Gulf as a bulwark against the Americans. In the minds of the governors of the western states this could only be the work of sinister British fur agents working in the territories. All these diverse and seemingly isolated regional concerns were woven together, baked to a fever pitch and brought to Washington by a small, but forceful and eloquent group President Jefferson dubbed the "War Hawks". With the control of key congressional committees, the Hawks were able to push the cause of war far more forcefully than the recently elected President Madison had the will or talent to resist.
To the long list of Anglo-American irritants, the "War Hawks" added the prospect of a cheap and easy "liberation" of the Canadas. The balance between northern and southern states, upset by the acquisition of Louisiana and the Floridas, could be restored by absorbing the British colonies into the Union. British influence in American foreign and domestic policies would only end with their expulsion from the continent.
Finally, it was thought that Canadians would welcome American troops as liberators from their oppressive, imperialist overlords. After all, most Canadians had little reason to love their British masters. Nearly half of Canada was French Canadian and English Canada contained a large number of American immigrants attracted by free land, not love of the crown. The "War Hawks" boasted that, "in four weeks from the time that a declaration of war is heard on our frontier, the whole of Upper and a part of Lower Canada will be in our possession."
Under such pressures, the congressional votes on the Declaration of War with Great Britain were taken in the House (Yes 79; No 49) and in the Senate (Yes 19; No 13). Sadly, the country was deeply divided along regional lines. The northeastern states (those hurt the most by Britain's maritime policies) overwhelmingly voted against the war. The western and southern states (those with the most to gain and with the least chance of suffering from British reprisal) voted almost unanimously to march.
Ironically, on June 16th, Britain revoked the offending Orders in Council, but the game of international brinkmanship had gone too far. On June 18th, President Madison signed the Declaration of War and the two English-speaking nations began a conflict with the principle grievance having already been resolved.