War Hawk 704830 224038534 2008-07-07T01:15:48Z Cgingold 2013997 Quick-adding category "People associated with war" (using [[WP:HOTCAT|HotCat]]) {{otheruses|Warhawk}} {{Warof1812-Origins}} '''War Hawk''' is a term originally used to describe a member of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] of the [[Twelfth United States Congress|Twelfth Congress]] of the [[United States]] who advocated waging war against [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] in the [[War of 1812]]. The term has evolved into an informal [[Americanism]] used to describe a political stance of preparedness for aggression, by diplomatic and ultimately military means, against others to improve the standing of their own government, country, or organization. Thus the [[hawk]] (a [[bird of prey]]), and is usually contrasted with the term [[dovish|dove]], which alludes to the more peaceful [[dove|bird]]. ==War Hawks of 1812== The War Hawks in the Twelfth Congress were mostly young [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republicans]] who had been imbued with the ideals of the [[American Revolution]] as youths, and were primarily from [[American South|southern]] and western states. (The American West then consisted of [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Ohio]], as well as territories in the [[Old Northwest]], which did not yet have votes in Congress.) The War Hawks advocated going to war against Britain for a variety of reasons, mostly related to the interference of the [[Royal Navy]] in American shipping, which the War Hawks believed hurt the American economy and injured American prestige. War Hawks from the western states also believed that the British were instigating [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] on the [[frontier]] to attack American settlements, and so the War Hawks called for an invasion of British [[Canada]] to punish Britain and end this threat.<ref>Reginald Horsman, ''The Causes of the War of 1812'' (New York: A.S. Barnes, 1962), ch. 13.</ref> [[Image:Henry Clay.JPG|thumb|175px|[[Henry Clay]], the War Hawk's "guiding spirit."<ref name="Eaton25">{{cite book |title=Henry Clay and the Art of American Politics |last= Eaton |first= Clement |authorlink= |year= 1957 |publisher= Little, Brown and Company |location= Boston, MA |pages= 25}}</ref>]] The term "War Hawk" was coined by the prominent [[Virginia]] Congressman [[John Randolph of Roanoke]], a staunch opponent of entry into the war. There was, therefore, never any "official" roster of War Hawks; as historian Donald Hickey notes, "Scholars differ over who (if anyone) ought to be classified as a War Hawk."<ref>Donald Hickey, ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict'' (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1989), p. 334n.8.</ref> However, most historians use the term to describe about a dozen members of the Twelfth Congress. The leader of this group was [[Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Henry Clay]] of Kentucky. [[John C. Calhoun]] of [[South Carolina]] was another notable War Hawk. Both of these men became major players in American politics for decades. Other men traditionally identified as War Hawks included [[Richard Mentor Johnson]] of [[Kentucky]], [[William Lowndes (congressman)|William Lowndes]] of [[South Carolina]], [[Langdon Cheves]] of [[South Carolina]], [[Felix Grundy]] of [[Tennessee]], and [[William W. Bibb]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name="Eaton25">{{cite book |title=Henry Clay and the Art of American Politics |last= Eaton |first= Clement |authorlink= |year= 1957 |publisher= Little, Brown and Company |location= Boston, MA |pages= 25}}</ref> The older members of the Party, led by [[United States President]] [[James Madison]] and [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Albert Gallatin]] tried unsuccessfully to defeat the War Hawks movement. They felt the United States was not prepared for war.<ref name="Eaton25"/> ==Modern usage== The term ''War Hawk'' (or ''warhawk'' or ''hawk'') has often been used since the War of 1812 to describe politicians or other persons with "hawkish" positions on warfare. It is sometimes extended to describe a tough stance on other issues, such as "deficit hawk" for someone who puts a high priority on reducing the United States federal budget deficit. A pejorative variation is ''[[Chickenhawk (politics)|Chickenhawk]]'', used to belittle someone who advocates war but avoided military service themselves. ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:American people of the War of 1812]] [[Category:American political terms]] [[Category:Defunct American political movements]] [[Category:War of 1812]] [[Category:People associated with war]] [[ja:タカ派]] [[fi:Haukka (politiikka)]] [[zh:鹰派]]