The myths of 1812 in Canada are fairly pernicious. For at least 50 years post we had the “militia myth” - the belief that in the face of military need brave Canadians and Quebecois would but aside their differences, pick up their muskets and leave their normal lives to face the foe, and when complete, would put down their arms and resume their civilian tasks. The elites liked it because a militia of that type was cheap to maintain, and offered a comforting and unifying story to rally around. It completely ignored the Regulars and First Nations who were the most effective force in the war and ensured that Canada would always keep its military small because the militia was just that good. (The Militia Myth is a thesis in waiting)
The big one that keeps getting trotted out is that Canadians burned the White House as revenge for the Sack of York. Given that the British fleet that carried the troops who did it came from the Caribbean, I’m skeptical there were any Canadians there, let alone them doing it in revenge - burning public buildings happened quite often during fighting and I don’t think we need to attribute it to a deliberate act of revenge when, “it’s SOP” is right there.
Tecumseh might have been able to get a seat at the table for negotiations - he was the recognized leader of a territory the British would probably have been happy to recognize the sovereignty of (it was mostly in the US), but his death and the lack of a leader for the Confederacy who could demand and receive respect from both the British And the US meant the coalition fell apart and both colonial powers felt they could ignore the smaller polities as inconvenient to their designs on the region as opposed to a threat.
The War of 1812 - the British soon forgot it as a minor sideshow in the larger Napoleonic Wars, the Americans forgot what they wanted as they were in no serious existential danger. For Canada it was something because it was an existential conflict. And for the First Nations it was a catastrophe.
The myths of 1812 in Canada are fairly pernicious. For at least 50 years post we had the “militia myth” - the belief that in the face of military need brave Canadians and Quebecois would but aside their differences, pick up their muskets and leave their normal lives to face the foe, and when complete, would put down their arms and resume their civilian tasks. The elites liked it because a militia of that type was cheap to maintain, and offered a comforting and unifying story to rally around. It completely ignored the Regulars and First Nations who were the most effective force in the war and ensured that Canada would always keep its military small because the militia was just that good. (The Militia Myth is a thesis in waiting)
The big one that keeps getting trotted out is that Canadians burned the White House as revenge for the Sack of York. Given that the British fleet that carried the troops who did it came from the Caribbean, I’m skeptical there were any Canadians there, let alone them doing it in revenge - burning public buildings happened quite often during fighting and I don’t think we need to attribute it to a deliberate act of revenge when, “it’s SOP” is right there.
Tecumseh might have been able to get a seat at the table for negotiations - he was the recognized leader of a territory the British would probably have been happy to recognize the sovereignty of (it was mostly in the US), but his death and the lack of a leader for the Confederacy who could demand and receive respect from both the British And the US meant the coalition fell apart and both colonial powers felt they could ignore the smaller polities as inconvenient to their designs on the region as opposed to a threat.
The War of 1812 - the British soon forgot it as a minor sideshow in the larger Napoleonic Wars, the Americans forgot what they wanted as they were in no serious existential danger. For Canada it was something because it was an existential conflict. And for the First Nations it was a catastrophe.
Excellent!