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Question

Oh Say Can You See! 

♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA ♪

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/183930/war-of-1812-membership 

After making this post and my tears stopped so I could see again, I found this! Enjoy! JPVIV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRnL6fRdcc

Comments

I suppose it's rude to mention that America was supporting Napoleon.

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Were not perfect, but we are forgiven. My country still does poop that I don't agree with, I love it just the same.  P.S. I am 43% from Great Brittan.

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Amen to this - I'll avoid the political rhetoric and just say that I agree with you, John. Any reasonably patriotic citizen will be moved when they reflect on not only what it took to establish this nation, but also what it takes in effort and often sacrifice to keep it.

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How does the War of 1812 reflect on the establishment of the nation or what effort and sacrifice it takes to maintain it?

Upper and lower Canada were no threat to America, so why did the Americans start the war of 1812?

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

The short answer - it's complicated.

The long answer? (see the link above)

My impression: The war was primarily between the US and Britain, due to unfair trade restrictions which may have been brought on both by the Napoleanic conflicts as well as hard feelings over the whole Independence thing, which spilled over into all the non-US territories (like Canada). I don't think the US specifically decided to target Canada, but Canada was a loyal territory to Britain and as such their forces were being used to both blockade and attack US forces. Unfortunately, it was a complicated situation, with a lot of people not wanting to get involved but at the same time not having much of a choice in matters.

Answer 1

I don't remember anything about "hard feelings over the whole Independence thing" from either the British or Canadians, I've only heard that from Americans.

"The United States declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of as many as 10,000 American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy,^[5] British support for Native American tribes fighting American settlers on the frontier, outrage over insults to national honor during the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair, and American interest in annexing British territory, and expanding the United States further north" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

"In the early months of 1812, as tension with Britain increased, President of the United States James Madison and Secretary of War William Eustis were urged by many people, including William Hull, Governor of the Michigan Territory, to form an army which would secure the former Northwest Territory against Native Americans incited to take arms against the United States by British agents and fur trading companies. In particular it was urgently necessary to reinforce the outpost of Detroit, which had a population of 800 but a peacetime garrison of only 120 soldiers.^[3] It was also suggested that this army might invade the western districts of Upper Canada, where support might be expected from the many recent immigrants from the United States who had been attracted by generous land grants" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Detroit

 

Comments

I'm no historian - I can only go by what wiki and the history books tell me. And based on historical content, my interpretation is that Britain established unfair trade regulations - the US responded to prevent them from continuing them - and in essence, the Canadians, who strongly supported Britain with money, troops, etc. were caught in the middle. Unfortunately, when you pick a side in any war, you end up having to fight alongside them. The Canadians chose the side of the British in the War of 1812, and that's what essentially brought about the fighting between the US and Canada well over 200 years ago. I suppose it's possible that if the Canadians had chosen to remain neutral or at least determined not to support the British, it's conceivable that the US would have never attacked.

Not that I'm standing up to whether or not I personally believe they should have attacked either Britain or Canada in the first place - it was a different time back then, and who knows what factors played into that decision. It does seem like there was some interest in pushing British influence off the continent, which was probably a part of it. As RJ mentions above, the US may have provided some support to Napolean, who opposed Britain at the time, although I don't see that in any of the articles I've read (but it seems likely that it happened).

At least that's the way I'm reading it - and like I said, I'm no historian - I could be reading it wrong.