Canadians are Trying to Rewrite the History of the 1812 War

In History lessons I learn how to determine how reliable a source is by remembering the PACT:

Purpose
Author
Context
Tone

And for your OP it goes:

Purpose - To have a go at Canadians and make America seem great

Author - An American which means the source will contain bias which favours ideas which show America in a positive light and other countries in a bad way

Context - 2012, approximately 200 years after the "War of 1812" which means a lot of evidence will have been lost and some information may have become obscured during that time period + you are posting on a student forum comprised mostly of 14-21 year old who are probably more impressionable than the general population

Tone - Heavily biased, doesn't show the other side of the argument at all

All i know is when i was visiting family in Canada, everyone was talking about "the war of 1812". I never heard anyone say "we won the war" or any variation of that statement. If anything it was that the British defeated the Americans. Not knowing to much about the "war" I can't offer my opinion on who won but the claim that Canada are claiming victory for themselves seems obsolete to me after I spent a reasonable period of time in Canada and listening to peoples views on the "war".

http://walrusmagazine.com/article.php?ref=2012.03-essay-that-time-we-beat-the-americans

Again, here's an article from a Canadian magazine claiming Canada beat America during the 1812 war, which is 100% false due to the fact that Canada never participated in the war because Canada never existed as a country until 1867.

http://walrusmagazine.com/article.php?ref=2012.03-essay-that-time-we-beat-the-americans

Again, here's an article from a Canadian magazine claiming Canada beat America during the 1812 war, which is 100% false due to the fact that Canada never participated in the war because Canada never existed as a country until 1867.

One magazine artical can't speak for a nation...

Yes Canada did participate it was part of the British empire and the British empire fought the war. Think about what you are saying for a moment, if scotland left the UK then according to you the people who live there would no longer be able to claim their country defeated germany in 2 world wars or napoleon? Similarly if the UK split up into its different nations none of them would be able to claim any credit for victory? Thats just stupid... surely you must see that Canada fought and whether it was called canada or not is irrelevant?

As for who won the war, america failed to capture a completely indefensible province of the British empire that even an army of frenchmen should have been able to seize. The united states was blockaded and new england even betrayed the USA by supplying the British! You are claiming victory because Britain failed to absolutely beat the crap out of you, even though it managed to prevent the USA achieving any of its objectives. I mean the peace treaty didn't even mention impressment at all, the only reason it stopped is that we won the war against the french. Also we retained the right to keep american ships off the trade routes that the UK wanted for itself. The USA failed to achieve anything, and since the USA was the aggressor and Britain was just aiming for the status quo to be restored that makes Britain and its empire including Canada the winners.

[video="youtube;Ety2FEHQgwM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ety2FEHQgwM[/video]

Your comments make no sense and ignore the universal understanding of a revolution. If the rebels succeed in their revolution, then they are no longer the nationality of the country they rebelled against and are historically considered a new nationality during and after the revolution.

The US revolution doesn't relate to Canada and the 1812 war. Canada can make no claim to the 1812 war because they weren't a government entity until 1867, nor were they in limbo of becoming a country when that war took place. The same way the US can't claim the 7 years war between the British and French.

has more of right to claim victory than the British (because the US won the last major battle and ended British impressment, which was what started the war in the first place).

The purpose of the 1812 war (from the American perspective) was NOT to take over the region Canada. It was to stop British impressment of US sailors and gain respect. This was achieved therefore the US has more of a right to claim victory.

Before 1776 it wasn't a fight for independence, it was a fight for the colonists fundamental rights to be recognised. The majority of the Founding Fathers still favoured reconciliation with Britain, and it was only when George III declared them rebels that popular opinion turned against anything British. Hence both sides at the battles of Lexington and Concord considered themselves British subjects, and so according to your argument it's Britain who should get the credit for the colonial victory.

Your comments make no sense and ignore the universal understanding of a revolution. If the rebels succeed in their revolution, then they are no longer the nationality of the country they rebelled against and are historically considered a new nationality during and after the revolution.

is that a fact? so the burning of washington escaped your notice did it?
also do you know the meaning of the phrase 'status quo ante bellum'? i suggest you look it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXAvOcY9TlE

The 1812 war was between the US and the British. Canada as a government didn't exist until 1867. Yet Canadians continue to claim that they beat America, when in reality the US never fought "Canada" and has more of right to claim victory than the British (because the US won the last major battle and ended British impressment, which was what started the war in the first place). So how could Canada have participated in the 1812 war, when at that time "Canada" was only known as a region of North America? It seems to me Canadians are looking for something to get patriotic about, but facts are facts. Is there nothing else Canadians can use for patriotism besides this fiction that's based on nothing but historically false mythology?

Here's an article from the March 2012 issue of the Canadian magazine Walrus titled "That Time We Beat the Americans".

http://walrusmagazine.com/article.php?ref=2012.03-essay-that-time-we-beat-the-americans

That may be true, but what was Britain's aim? To prevent the US taking its land, once this was achieved they could sue for peace. The British/Canadian forces repelled the US forces and then counter-invaded, burning the White House to the ground. Before the peace treaty was signed, Britain/Canada had won two thirds of all the battles and lost about 10 thousand fewer men (all this despite keeping the bulk of its army back in Europe). That's really not much of a victory for the US.

Both sides achieved their main aim (Britain/Canada = saving their land; US = ending impressment & gaining respect), and failed on their minor aim (US = taking Canadian land; Britain = continuing impressment). Neither side really had a reason to continue, the US had made its point that it could cause the British Empire problems if it was not properly respected, but in more practical terms it had lost more territory in the northern US than it had gained in Canada; Britain was in the middle of the much bigger and bloodier War of the Sixth Coalition, a grudge match, involving twice as many British troops as it had in America, and the focal point of the main British politicians and generals, who thus couldn't be dealing also with a distraction in America. I know it seems weird given the US's dominant position as a superpower in world affairs and economics today, but in 1812-1815 Britain had bigger fish to fry, and they didn't come any bigger than France and Napoleon. Both sides kept their dignity and saw the sense in peace, and it was thus a tie.

Americans are brainwashed to be patriotic to a fault, so any valid argument is just going to be lost on him. Keep thinking America is the best country in the world, buddy

Wow. You should really get the King of Bias Award. You've already made up your mind that everything I'm saying should be discredited just because I'm American.

This thread is focusing on historical facts versus mythology in relationship to the 1812 war and you bring up "Americans are brainwashed" and "Keep thinking America is the best country in the world" out of the blue. Is there something that's weighing over you Canadians? Does this have to do with an inferiority complex?

If the US had used impressment against the British or any other country there would have been automatic war. The British, who were then one of world's superpowers, was trying to bully the young United States.

America did achieve its aim to stop British impressment and gain respect. So the US has more of a right to claim victory. Britain was a superpower and for a young and weak country to go toe to toe with the stronger country will always be chalked as a victory for the smaller country.

But those local militia were British not Canadian because it was a British territory.

The US didn't have a minor objective, the main objective was to attack some part of the British Empire as a matter of national defense because the British weren't respecting US sovereignty by impressment of US sailors.

If the US had not retaliated and allowed impressment, then the US would be putting it's sovereignty in jeopardy, basically sending a message to other nations that the US is a pushover country ripe for invasion.

So because the US achieved it's aim of ending impressment and gaining respect, while the British didn't achieve their aim which was to continue what they were doing originally including bullying and impressment, I think the US has more of a right to claim victory.

Haha yes, because whenever Canadians say anything negative about the States, that's what it boils down to.

Actually, us Canadians are taught in school that neither the USA or Canada won the War of 1812; it says so right in our textbooks. You Americans are taught that you won it, so I think that says it all.

And your "Canada couldn't have won the War of 1812 because it didn't even exist" argument is completely ridiculous and invalid. While we were still under British rule, there were the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, which would later become Ontario and Quebec.