![]() ![]() “ a metaphysical war, a war not for conquest, notįor defense, not for sport, a war for honour, like that of the ![]() The War of 1812 deserves a fresh look, and our attention.Īn Unnecessary War? The Strange Path to Conflict For all its complexity, perhaps because of it, And, in a strange tinge of irony, the side that best championed liberty This much is certain: It was a peculiar war, full, in equal measure, of paradoxĪnd farce. It was, too, a sideshow theater of the broader Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) Īs historian Gordon Wood wrote, “The U.S. Worst by the native peoples of the Ohio Country and UpperĬanada. It is rarely remembered this way, in some ways this was a civil war,įought between men who spoke the same language, practiced the same religionĪnd had remarkably similar customs. The war and its complexities are instructive to today’s engaged citizen. The conflict deserves our attention for the last reason alone, but also because ![]() Wars the United States has officially declared. The decision to take a nation to war, to send young men The cherry-picked anecdotes of jingoism answer none of these vital questions,īut ask them we must. Why did we fight? Was it necessary? Did we win? None of thisĬomes together-except in the minds of academic historians-into anything These are carefully selected snapshots in an otherwise hazy war. Key penning “The Star Spangled Banner” as he observed the bombardment of Fort George Washington just before the British burned down the capital Francis Scott Redcoats at the Battle of New Orleans Dolly Madison saving the portrait of What those few do tend to rememberĪre patriotic anecdotes from a long-ago war: Andrew Jackson mowing down foolish Who among us recalls anythingĪbout the War of 1812? Few, if any. John Le Couteur upon visiting anĪmericans, sadly, know little of their own history. Words, as enemies-the very names of officers in our own army. “Strange indeed did it appear to me to find so many names, familiar household ![]() This article originally appeared at TruthDig. Watmough painting titled “Repulsion of the British at Fort Erie, 15 August 1814.” It depicts an attack that occurred at the U.S.-Canadian border during the War of 1812. ![]()
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