"The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently ..." Topic

…Than Americans Do.

"As we look forward to celebrating the bicentennial of the "Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, I have to admit, with deep shame and embarrassment, that until I left England and went to college in the U.S., I assumed the words referred to the War of Independence. In my defense, I suspect I'm not the only one to make this mistake.

For people like me, who have got their flags and wars mixed up, I think it should be pointed out that there may have been only one War of 1812, but there are four distinct versions of it—the American, the British, the Canadian and the Native American. Moreover, among Americans, the chief actors in the drama, there are multiple variations of the versions, leading to widespread disagreement about the causes, the meaning and even the outcome of the war.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, American commentators painted the battles of 1812-15 as part of a glorious "second war for independence." As the 19th century progressed, this view changed into a more general story about the "birth of American freedom" and the founding of the Union. But even this note could not be sustained, and by the end of the century, the historian Henry Adams was depicting the war as an aimless exercise in blunder, arrogance and human folly. During the 20th century, historians recast the war in national terms: as a precondition for the entrenchment of Southern slavery, the jumping-off point for the goal of Manifest Destiny and the opening salvos in the race for industrial-capitalist supremacy. The tragic consequences of 1812 for the native nations also began to receive proper attention. Whatever triumphs could be parsed from the war, it was now accepted that none reached the Indian Confederation under Tecumseh. In this postmodern narrative about American selfhood, the "enemy" in the war—Britain—almost disappeared entirely…"
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Amicalement
Armand

America was a small backwater the "wrong way". What had the American continent to compare with the riches and civilisation of India? Past India to China and the spice islands. If the French hadn't taken an interest in the place, HMG would have ignored it.

Just to show there are no hard feelings, I think we should let the Brits burn Washington again for the upcoming bicentennial of that event. For a game, I think dividing the city into grids would work fairly well, you just need some simple rules on troop movement, starting fires, getting fires to spread, etc.

No disrespect to anyone – but probably 98.765% of British people have never even heard of the war of 1812, let alone holding a view on it.

20th Maine, as someone from Britain I agree. It's probably a smaller percentage than that and is probably pretty much confined to the readers of Patrick O'Brian's books. Whenever someone starts on about, for example, "figures for war of 1812" even I naturally initially think of the retreat from Moscow, as the defining military event of that year.

It was only when I visited Fort York in Toronto a few years ago that I even registered it, really.

What I have found wryly amusing about the War of 1812 is that while many Americans remember that the British burned Washington DC during this clash (even if they don't know which war this occurred in), almost none know that it was in retribution for the Americans burning Toronto the year before. I bet they remember this in Canada!

Canadians are very forgiving….

Agee with you my friend.
They deserves much more credit.

Amicalement
Armand

Much of Canada's early highway and inland waterway infrastructure in Ontario and Quebec was emplaced in anticipation of renewed American northward aggression after 1815.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Canadians have a far different view of the War of 1812 than do Britons.

We had an (American) gentleman give a talk on the war at my Club a few months ago. It was an excellent talk, but he did made it sound like a string of American victories and very little else.

When I pointed out that, whatever else might have happened vis-à-vis New Orleans etc, invading another country and then having your capital burned down as a result is not often considered to be an unqualified success, he simply replied: "oh – I guess you're a Canadian", then moved onto the next questioner.

I am not, and I remain rather perplexed.

Wow, that was quite an ignorant response.

Fortunately, there are many American historians who have provided a balanced approach to the War of 1812, even when it did not always reflect positively on America. This may be the reason why the history of this war is not a popular subject in the U.S.

While Canada may not have had the "riches and civilization" of India it was essential o the Royal Navy After the closure of the Baltic Britain got most of its naval supplies including large timbers from Canada. It could be argued that without Canada the Royal Navy could not have maintained its large fleets and without them Britain may have had to make a compromise with France.

From the Canadian Encyclopedia

Naval Mast Trade

Large masts, cut for the Royal Navy from the finest trees of the mixed forest that swept through the Maritimes and the St Lawrence Valley, were the most valuable commercial product of British North American forests. The naval mast trade, always limited by its specialized and high quality requirements, shifted from the Saint John to the St Lawrence Valley early in the 19th century when contractors sought oak, as well as pine, from the deciduous forests of the southern Great Lakes area. The square timber industry developed rapidly to meet the enormous demand from Britain, which was at war with Napoleonic France and was also undergoing industrialization. In 1806, in an effort to strangle Britain's economy, Napoleon established the Continental Blockade, closing all European ports to British ships. Because Britain's traditional source of timber, the Baltic, was not accessible during this time, the Blockade further fueled the British North American industry. On average, 9,000 loads (almost 1.5 m3 each) of colonial timber entered Britain annually between 1802 and 1805, and that number only continued to grow: In 1807 the total was 27,000; in 1809, 90,000; in 1840 over 500,000; and in 1846, 750,000. Thereafter imports fluctuated for 20 years around 600,000 loads and then declined until WWI.

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Another factor that is overlooked is the amount of food and other supplies shipped from both Canada and America Wellington's Peninsular Army received much of its food supplies directly from America. This continued during the War of 1812, as in this case, profits were more important then patriotism