In a brief summary of the war of 1812:
One of the main reasons why we went to war with Britain in 1812, was that the British were seizing American merchant ships and impressing the crews.
In the years leading up to 1812, the British declared that any American merchant ships trading in "enemy" ports were subject to seizure. And the British did just this on many occasions. This eventually escalated into the declaration of war by the United States in 1812.
As far as the war itself went, it was fairly even as far as victories and losses by both sides until Jackson routed the British forces during the battle of New Orleans.
Just before the battle of New Orleans, diplomats drew up the Treaty of Ghent were both sides agreed to return to the status quo from before the war. I think this was in early 1815...
It's been a while since I studied the War of 1812, so my recollections are a bit dusty