The War of 1812 - Causes, Results

War.

 

Sometimes we call them Conflicts, or police actions; popular liberation movements; insurgencies; or even armed resistance... but they are all just different terms for war.

From time immemorial there have been wars and rumors of wars, and no doubt this trend will continue, if the current levels of blood-letting around the world are any indicator.  It has ever been thus. 

My country was born of a war (well actually at least three wars), and has been at war, off and on, with other nations for the last two hundred and thirty three years.

Today, I want to talk about one war in particular.  As you have cleverly deduced from the title of this post, and the map there to your left, I want to talk about the War of 1812.  The War of 1812... at least that is what most Americans call it.  Some have the cheek to call it the second American war for independence, which I reject completely.

Janet, this is for you, my friend.

Look, the war of 1812 had many causes, and the impressment of American sailors by the British navy was among them... but that was really just an excuse,  Especially since most of those sailors were British deserters.  No, the war really wasn't about sailors.  The war of 1812 was mostly about Napoleon Bonaparte.  Yeah... him.

You realize, of course that the war of 1812 was fought during some of the fiercest fighting if the Napoleonic wars, right?  Well, this was just sort of an expansion.

The American "war Hawks" figured we could just use a few excuses : The Leopard incident, British garrisons in Canada, trade disputes, and the stopping of American ships on the high seas, and we could have a lovely little war to kick the British out of North America once and for all.

See, some of our stupider leaders, and unfortunately I count Mr. Jefferson among them, thought that oppressed Canadians would rise up against the British and join the invading, crusading, marauding, um... liberating Americans as some sort of saviors, especially those in Catholic Quebec.  Jefferson even said that the reduction of Canada would be a matter of "some marching"

Ahem.

Naturally it didn't work like that.  You see, it all went bad from the beginning since many of the state militias that were mobilized to fight in Canada, refused to do so.  Those parts of our unprepared army that did fight, weren't particularly well equipped or particularly well led.

The United States and the British, as well as Canadian militias fought back and forth, trading the destruction of York (now Toronto), for the burning of Washington, DC.

Neither side gained a clear upper hand and the Americans were reminded of exactly how tough the Redcoats were.  The Redcoats were reminded of how vast America was... and as a result, REALLY difficult to conquer.

Eventually, cooler heads prevailed and the Treaty of Ghent was signed (before Andy Jackson whipped the British at New Orleans).

The problem is: The United States didn't get to annex Canada, and the British couldn't conquer the upstart Americans.

People like to debate, from time to time about who really won the war of 1812... some of my Canadian friends like to proudly (or smugly) thump their chests about how they burned Washington (despite the fact that there were very very few Canadian troops involved in that operation)... they seem to think that THEY won the war.  Some British people think that since they didn't lose any territory to the Americans, that THEY won the war.  Many Americans think that since the British were decisively beaten at New Orleans, that WE won the war.

So... who did win the war of 1812?

Canada:  Our northern neighbors, who weren't militarily significant for most of the war (apart from the Isaac Brock fellow... who was an Irishman), got a sense of self-identification that they didn't have before then.

The United States:  Because we proved strong enough to maintain our own security... and trade status.

I guess you could say that the British "lost" the war, but that wouldn't really be true either.  You see, all of the borders that existed before the war were in place after the war.  Further, the British handily beat the best that the U.S. could throw at them militarily.

There you have it, Janet, The War of 1812.

Oh, that part about Napoleon?  It's true.  Who do you think REALLY could have benefitted from a war like that.  Napoleon was just trying to take some pressure off of his armies.  It didn't work, because Napoleon was defeated during our war with the British, leading to the arrival of several tough, veteran regiments, some of which were responsible for burning Washington.

***NOTE*** This is the fourth post in a series of posts whose topics were picked by my readers and pals.  If you are just tuning in and want to watch me make a fool of myself by posting about whatever is on your mind, drop me an email sometime and I'll see what I can do.