New England's unique role in the nation's first declared war has never been examined in its entirety and pulled together in one place.  The region played important multiple and contradictory roles in the war against Great Britain.  Much of the financing and a substantial portion of the army and navy came from New England.  The vice president and the secretary of war hailed from Massachusetts.  Yet a majority of New England's merchants, clergymen, and editors opposed the war, at times in ways that appeared treasonous.  The governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont defiantly refused to cooperate with the national government, and most congressmen from New England voted against the declaration of war and otherwise tried to thwart the administration's efforts.  Eastport became an international smuggling center, eastern Maine fell into the hands of the British, and Nantucket entered into a neutrality agreement with the enemy.  Towards the end of the war, the infamous Hartford Convention met to consider the beleaguered region's alternatives. 

Significantly, every argument made in support of or in opposition to the current war in Iraq appeared for or against the War of 1812.  Even the weapons of mass destruction argument has its earlier counterpart.  The American antiwar movement traces its roots to New England in this period.

Politics, embargoes, smuggling, impressment, privateering, enemy raids, and heroic sea fights make up much of the story.  The overall tale includes ample bravery and chivalry and virtue and triumph.