In the War of 1812 the United States skirmished with Great Britain along the East Cost and near the Great Lakes, resulting in 13,000 US deaths, and the burning of the White House!

The Treaty of Ghent which ended the war settled nothing. Prewar conditions were reinstated, the British policy of impressment was not addressed and the territories of Canada and Florida that the United States wanted so badly remained foreign land.

Was this war neccessary? Why or why not?