The War of 1812 was the closing fight of the American Revolution and the first war that declared a brand new nation, setting the United States on the path to a place on the world stage.

While no land battles were fought in Pennsylvania during the war — and even the naval battle most associated with the state happened off the coast of Ohio — the state still played an important role in the war.

In an essay in the “Encyclopedia of Philadelphia” on the War of 1812, author Paul Campbell wrote about the commonwealth’s stance on the war.

“Pennsylvania’s support for the war was substantial,” he wrote. “The state provided the largest vote in Congress for the war’s declaration and later played a key role in reelecting James Madison in the 1812 presidential race against Dewitt Clinton. The election was a referendum on the war, and a loss for Madison likely would have led to efforts to find an expedient conclusion.”

At first, it made good sense for Pennsylvanians to support the war, not least because of the benefits they saw coming their way.

“As the United States continued waging a war that it did not have the adequate finances to afford, it plunged ever deeper into economic chaos,” Campbell wrote. “Pennsylvania was unique in that it actually — at least for a while — experienced wartime prosperity. This was largely because the army purchased vast quantities of supplies within the state, and one of the most important supply routes ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Much of the money generated by these ventures ended up in Pennsylvania banks. Philadelphia found itself with enough money to engage in large-scale building projects. However, business failures in New York in 1814 created a ripple effect that reached Philadelphia and finally brought Pennsylvania’s financial surge to a halt.”

The naval buildup that accompanied the war also reinforced Philadelphia’s role as a port and as a shipbuilding hub.

The state raised a large force for its defense. However, as historian John C. Fredriksen noted in “The Pennsylvania Volunteers of the War of 1812,” few of them saw action.

“Like all states, Pennsylvania was obliged to recruit sizable militia forces to bolster the small national army,” Fredriksen wrote. “Gov. Simon Snyder, a vocal proponent of the war, was particularly adept at enforcing compliance and by the fall of 1812 nearly 100,000 men had enlisted. These were organized into paper formations ranging from companies to divisions, but most were disbanded without having fired a shot. This is understandable; Pennsylvania was relatively remote from the main theaters of operation and, despite several scares, never had to defend itself.”

Perhaps the state’s most recognizable contribution to the war effort happened in October 1813, when the Battle of Lake Erie helped ensure American control over the Great Lakes.

Just like it is today, the shore of the Great Lakes was the northern coastline for part of the United States, separating it from Canada. In the early 1800s, though, Canada was controlled by Great Britain, which the U.S. was now at war with.

Much of the war centered around an abortive effort by the American forces to capture parts of Canada.

It became increasingly urgent to protect the northern coastline, especially once the war started and only one American ship was on Lake Erie.

That ship, the U.S.S. Niagara, was captured by the British. That convinced the U.S. government of the need to build a fleet of ships in the bay of Presque Isle, just offshore from Erie.

Now the Niagara is based at the Erie Maritime Museum.

In 2023, an article in the Butler Eagle about the Great Lakes fleet explained the reasoning behind how and where the ships were built.

“The task was a daunting one,” the museum’s site explains. “Skilled shipwrights could only be recruited from East Coast cities and had to be persuaded by high wages to march for weeks through Pennsylvania’s mountainous wilderness, in winter, to reach the frontier outpost of Erie. Everything needed except wood had to come the same way.

“To house so many men in winter, the first project was to build more log buildings. A larger town needed to be built, before a shipyard could be established, before a fleet could be built.”

The situation wasn’t made any easier by the fact hardly anyone lived in the area when the war began.

“There was nothing out here,” said Chuck Johnson, education and volunteer coordinator with the Erie Maritime Museum, 150 E. Front St., Erie.

By 1812 there were about 400 people living in Erie, and Pittsburgh, which was about three days travel from Erie, had 6,000 people.

The geography of Lake Erie had much to do with the decision to build there. Presque Isle Bay was sheltered and had a sandbar across the entrance that meant the water was too shallow for the larger British warships to sail into the bay.

The American ships such as the U.S.S. Niagara were built with much shallower drafts, allowing them to navigate in shallow water, though even they needed assistance clearing the sandbar to get into the lake.

More than a year after the declaration of war, the ships on Lake Erie were ready. Though the battle would happen in Ohio, the fleet that would keep the northern coastline safe set sail from Pennsylvania.

For several weeks in the late summer of 1813, the American ships kept up a blockade of the British ships on the lake, eventually forcing them into a battle.

On Sept. 10, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry set out aboard his flagship, the U.S.S. Lawrence, with a battle flag he’d commissioned specially for the day.

It bore the last words of Capt. James Lawrence, a friend of Perry’s and the man for whom his ship had been named.

Lawrence had been killed on board his ship, the USS Chesapeake, and his last words to the crew were: “Don’t give up the ship!”

Perry planned to use those words to signal his fleet to attack the British.

The battle got off to an inauspicious start for Perry and the Americans. Light winds kept the Lawrence too far from the British to fire its cannon effectively.

Once it got into range, the battle started going even worse. The Lawrence’s guns had little effect on the British ships. Shot after shot tore the ship to pieces. Finally, all the cannons were disabled, and Perry abandoned the Lawrence for the Niagara, taking his flag with him.

At nearly the same time the Lawrence was disabled, two of the main British ships crashed into each other, leaving both sides in disarray.

The British commander expected Perry aboard the Niagara to lead a withdrawal, but he did the opposite.

Perry led an attack and the Niagara raked the British line with cannon fire.

The two British ships were able to untangle from each other, but couldn’t offer any resistance. By the mid-afternoon, about four hours after the battle began, Perry accepted the surrender of the British force on the lake.

As soon as he was ashore, Perry would dash off one of the most iconic messages of all time to then Gen. William Henry Harrison, who would eventually be elected President.

Perry wrote on the back of an old envelope: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

Perry had captured two ships, two brigs, a schooner and a sloop, and his victory had helped secure the northern coastline of the U.S.