The way the war of 1812 change how Americans described themselves:
The war between Americans and British broke out between the period of 1812-1815 due to major reasons such as British impressment (where Americans were kidnapped and put them forcefully into British Navy for latter’s trade benefits), trade policies and border disagreements.
As British could not conquer newly formed American Republic, Americans believed that their spirit for Nationalism had grown considerably and they felt as “top of the world”. Americans believed that they succeeded with the age long British invasion. This is why it was considered as American Second War of Independence.