The Second Orlando [New York, 1813]

Lord Liverpool, British Prime Minister, (1812–1827) (source)

Thomas Kensett's engraving of Upper & Lower Canada 1812. "rare separately issued map of the Great Lakes, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and contiguous parts of the Canada and the Northeast. The map shows the primary area of conflict during the opening stages of the War of 1812 including many forts along the Canadian/US border except Fort York. Includes Fort Washington (Cincinnati), Fort Dearborn (Chicago), Sandwich (Windsor, Ontario), N. Amsterdam (Buffalo), Fort Malden (Amherstberg) and other early NE settlements.," (souce)

No, some of it is for my child's father. O, how
full of briars is this working-day world! -- Rosalind, As You Like It, Act 1, Scene 3

"Their marriage produced twelve children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood. The matter of names counted for much to families of ambition, who always had eye cocked toward posterity. This posed a delicate problem for Orlando...With great reluctance he passed [his loathed Shakespearean name] along to his eldest son... (Klein, 2000 p. 28)

1813 (Dec. 20) Anna Ingland Harriman gives birth to Orlando Harriman Jr. in New York.

1813 (Sept. 13) Battle of Lake Erie. Turning point of the war in the West.

1813 (May 27) U.S. amphibious invasion force from Lake Ontario assaults the British fort on the Niagara River in Upper Canada. The invasion is defeated on June 24 at the Battle of Beaver Dam by a British-Native allied force. The Americans relinquish their last beachhead by the end of the year.

1812 (Aug) U.S. invasion force, having retreated from Upper Canada in defeat, surrenders to the British near the Detroit River.

1812 (Jul) U.S. invades Upper Canada with a force of untrained militiamen, ordering the British subjects to surrender as they advance.

1812 (Jul) A native Huron force allied to the British, having learned of the war before the Americans at Mackinac Island, forces the American garrison there to surrender after a single shot.

1812 (Jun. 23) Lord Liverpool issues repeal of the Orders in Council.

"the United States was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic."

1812 (Jun. 18) The United States declares war on Britain. "This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to formally declare war in American history."

On June 1, 1812, President James Madison sent a message to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. After Madison's message, the House of Representatives deliberated for four days behind closed doors before voting 79 to 49 the first declaration of war, and the Senate agreed by 19 to 13 . The conflict began formally on June 18, 1812, when Madison signed the measure into law and proclaimed it the next day.

1812 (May 11) British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated in London. Lord Liverpool comes to power, wanting a more practical relationship with the United States.

1811 Orlando Harriman (Sr.) opens his own business on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan
1810 Orlando Harriman (Sr.) marries Anna Ingland.

1809 (Mar. 1) As one of his last acts as President, Thomas Jefferson signs law repealing the Embargo Act,

"The embargo undermined national unity in the U.S., provoking bitter protests, especially in New England commercial centers. The issue sharply increased support for the Federalist Party and led to major gains in their representation in Congress and in the electoral college in 1808. Thomas Jefferson's doctrinaire approach to enforcing the embargo violated a key Democratic-Republican precept: commitment to limited government. Sectional interests and individual liberties were violated by his authorization of heavy-handed enforcement by federal authorities."

1808 (Nov). U.S. Presidential Election. Democratic-Republican James Madison is elected over Charles Pickney and others to succeed Thomas Jefferson as President.

While the British government was largely oblivious to the deteriorating North American situation because of its involvement in a continent-wide European War, the U.S. was in a period of significant political conflict between the Federalist Party (based mainly in the Northeast), which favored a strong central government and closer ties to Britain, and the Democratic-Republican Party (with its greatest power base in the South and West), which favored a weak central government, preservation of slavery, expansion into Indian land, and a stronger break with Britain.  

U.S. Presidential Election of 1808 (source)

1808 Orlando Harriman (Sr.) goes into business with is father in New York.

1808 (Apr. 22) U.S. Congress passes the Enforcement Act, decreeing that port authorities are allowed to seize cargoes without a warrant, and to bring to trial any shipper or merchant who is thought to have merely contemplated violating the embargo.

1808 (Mar) U.S. Congress strengthens the Embargo Act, prohibiting, for the first time, the export of all goods, either by land or by sea, regardless of destination.

"By spring 1808, New England ports were nearly shut down, and the regional economy headed into a depression with growing unemployment. On the Canadian border with New York and Vermont, the embargo laws were openly flouted. By March an increasingly frustrated Jefferson was resolved to enforce the embargo to the letter."

1807 (Dec. 22) Embargo Act is signed into law by President Jefferson, who had sponsored the legislation.

"The goal was to force Britain and France to respect American rights during the Napoleonic Wars"

The act imposed a general embargo that made any and all exports from the United States illegal.  .The American (and Jefferson's) goal was to use economic coercion to avoid war and to punish Britain. The policy was highly unpopular with shipping interests, and historians have judged it a failure.

1807 (Nov. 11) British Parliament passes the Orders in Council imposing trade restrictions on neutral (including American) shipping with Napoleonic France. The Act greatly antagonizes U.S.-British relationships, and puts enormous pressure on the Jefferson Administration to retaliate.

1807 (June 22) The Chesapeake-Leonard Affair. British Navy, in pursuit of deserters on American ships, attacks and boards an American warship. American pubilc is outraged at violation of sovereignty. Pressure mounts on President Jefferson to retaliate.

"Jefferson acted with restraint as these antagonisms mounted, weighing public support for retaliation. He recommended that Congress respond with commercial warfare, rather than with military mobilization."

1806 (Nov) Napoleon, master of the European continent, imposes a general blockade of Europe against British shipping (The Berlin Decree).

1806  After conquering Germany in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon abolishes the Holy Roman Empire after a millennium of existence.

1804 Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French.

1803 Napoleonic wars resume after a short truce.  U.S. is neutral but its English immigrant sailors are considered subject to impressment by the Royal Navy.

"The war caused American relations with both Britain and France to deteriorate rapidly. There was grave risk of war with one or the other. With Britain supreme on the sea, and France on the land, the war developed into a struggle of blockade and counterblockade."

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man.While the Royal Navy could man its ships with volunteers in peacetime, it competed in wartime with merchant shipping and privateers for a small pool of experienced sailors and turned to impressment when it could not operate ships with volunteers alone. Britain did not recognize the right of a British subject to relinquish his status as a British subject, emigrate and transfer his national allegiance as a naturalized citizen to any other country. Thus while the United States recognized British-born sailors on American ships as Americans, Britain did not....Aggravating the situation was the widespread use of forged identity or protection papers by sailors. This made it difficult for the Royal Navy to distinguish Americans from non-Americans and led it to impress some Americans who had never been British."

1801 Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third U.S. President.

1800 Harrimans move to from New Haven to New York.

1799 Napoleon seizes power in a coup in the French Republic.

1795 Harrimans leave London and emigrate to America.

1792 Overthrow of the French monarchy. Proclamation of the French Republic ruled by the National Convention.

1790 Orlando Harriman (Sr.) born in London.