The war was a conflict of countries being mad at each other. Because of that they started shutting down shipping ports. Great Britain shut down a main shipping port in the U.S. so then an official war began, a question of rights. This whole war could have been avoided if mail travel was a day faster because Great Britain had sent a letter apologizing for shutting down the port and that they would reopen it but the letter had arrived too late for the U.S. had already declared that it was an official war. Also Great Britain was not honoring the young country's newfound independence and attacked an U.S. ship, which angered the citizens.