a conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812 - 1815, which arose from two main groups of causes: the attempts of the United States, as a poorly armed neutral, to maintain the freedom of the seas against British and Frenchinterference, and the desire of the West and South to seize a supposed opportunity for the conquest of Canada from Great Britain, and perhaps also of Florida from a British ally, Spain. To a degree the first group of causes served as an excuse for the second. —ESTO - Hold the Form of the Org, Part II Approved Glossary