U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
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Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#2The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#3The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
Whereas, like many wars, it should really be taught as a mutual loss: a useless conflict that neither side needed.
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#4> The Americans also captured York (now Toronto) and burned several government buildings there, an act the British reciprocated the following year (1814) in Washington, D.C.
The Canadian version sounds better: "Yeah! We burned down the White House!".
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#5And they've been overcompensating since
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#6If only the US had won, then all those canadian programmers in Vancouver and Toronto wouldn't have to migrate to get a decent paying job.
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#7The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
I'm American and it was taught as a stalemate. I think most history classes probably teach it that way, and that's the most accurate interpretation. Your average American likely remembers nothing about their history class so asking an average American if it was a US victory is meaningless.
Also it's not accurate to say the British got everything they wanted from the war. The Americans got the British to stop the impressment and harassment at sea, which is why the Americans declared the war to begin with. I think the British would have preferred not having the war at all in the first place since they had bigger issues with their own war with France.
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#8The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
> the US got everything it went into the war looking for
> they too got everything they went into the war looking for
Did they even try trading beforehand? Going to war when there isn't a conflict of interests in the first place is particularly stupid.
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#9The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
Whereas, like many wars, it should really be taught as a mutual loss: a useless conflict that neither side needed.
The US did get a National Anthem out of it I guess...
And a burned down White House
Re: U.S. Forces Failed to Conquer Canada 200 Years Ago (2012)
#10The War of 1812 is a fascinating study in the ways we record and teach history. The US teaches it as a US victory because the US got everything it went into the war looking for and repulsed a British invasion. Canada teaches it as a British/Canadian victory because they too got everything they went into the war looking for and repulsed an American invasion.
It's certainly not taught as a US victory, at least in Pennsylvania. It was taught as a stalemate at best, with a final battle at the end that gave Andrew Jackson an impressive victory.