<P> Raiding grew more common in 1810 and 1811; Westerners in Congress found the raids intolerable and wanted them permanently ended . </P> <P> Historians have considered the idea that American expansionism was one cause of the war . The American expansion into the Northwest--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--was being blocked by Indians and that was a major cause animating the Westerners . American historian Walter Nugent in his history of American expansionism argues that expansion into the Midwest "was not the only American objective, and indeed not the immediate one area but it was an objective ." </P> <P> More controversy is the question whether an American war goal was to permanently acquire Canadian lands (especially western Ontario), or whether it was planned to seize the area temporarily as a bargaining chip . The American desire for Canadian land has been a staple in Canadian public opinion since the 1830s, and was much discussed among historians before 1940, but has become less popular since then . The idea was first developed by Marxist historian Louis M. Hacker and refined by diplomatic specialist Julius Pratt . In 1925, Pratt argued that Western Americans were incited to war by the prospect of seizing Canada . Pratt's argument supported the belief of many Canadians, especially in Ontario, where fear of American expansionism was a major political element . To this day the notion still survives among Canadians . </P> <P> In 2010 American historian Alan Taylor examined the political dimension of the annexation issue as Congress debated whether to declare war in 1811 - 12 . The Federalist party was strongly opposed to war and to annexation, as were the northeastern states . The majority in Congress was held by the Jeffersonian Republican party, which split on the issue . One faction wanted to permanently expel Britain and annex Canada . John Randolph of Roanoke, representing Virginia, commented, "Agrarian greed not maritime right urges this war . We have heard but one word - like the whipporwill's one monotonous tone: Canada! Canada! Canada!" The other faction, based in the South, said that acquiring new territory in the north would give the northern states too much power, and opposed the incorporation into Canada of a Catholic population which it viewed as "unfit by faith, language and illiteracy for republican citizenship ." The Senate held a series of debates, and twice voted on proposals to explicitly endorse annexation, neither of which passed, although the second one only failed because of a proviso stating that Canada could be returned to British rule after being annexed . War was declared with no mention of annexation although widespread support existed among the War Hawks for it . Some Southerners supported expansionism; Tennessee Senator Felix Grundy considered it essential to acquire Canada to preserve domestic political balance, arguing that annexing Canada would maintain the free state - slave state balance, which might otherwise be thrown off by the acquisition of Florida and the settlement of the southern areas of the new Louisiana Purchase . </P>

What are some of the causes of the war of 1812