If you are reading this and you are Canadian (particularly from Ontario), you know exactly what I mean. If you are American, you are probably wondering a) which war that was, or b) what does that even have to do with Canada?
Don’t worry – I had the exact same thoughts.
The War of 1812 (I believe also known as the French-Indian War) was a battle over northern borders between the newly-formed US and Britain.
[Both sides created military fortifications, which can still be found by dedicated history buffs, on the banks of Lake Ontario. In fact, these forts exist today both in Ontario and New York, a fact little known to those of us not born/raised in Buffalo.]
In any case, did I mention that it was the BRITISH, because Canada was still part of BRITAIN?
My first encounter with the War of 1812 since arriving in Canada was when a coworker sent out a link to some maps provided by Brock University. I shot back with a “what is a brock” email. To which he replied with an encyclopedic account of the victories of General Brock in the war of 1812, and how Canadians list him as the 27th most important historic figure. Did I know that the Canadians burned down the White House?
Since that time, the War of 1812 continues to come up, not simply because of our work in Niagara on the Lake (site of Fort York and other such War of 1812 things). Every time I mention the lack of military/aggressive initiative in Canada, someone shouts out – “War of 1812! We burned down your White House!” And always that complete phrase. Never just, War of 1812. Every time it must include the assertion about the White House. And I must admit, for the first month or so that was kind of an argument ender for me. I mean, how can you come back from that? I can’t even counter that in the US, we learn of this conflict as the French-Indian Wars, because those were the main forces in conflict. I can’t even bring up that our national anthem was inspired by the Battle of New Orleans, the deciding battle of the war. What did the Canadians even “win,” anyway, other than keeping American forces out….? Nothing I would say could have any weight.
UNTIL
A fateful conversation I had with a coworker of mine. We were talking about a coffee mug in the kitchen, the Bytown Chowder and Drum Corps. I remarked how cute it was that it was a Chowder Corps, and this coworker informed me that “Bytown” town is actually Ottawa, his hometown. Did I know why the capital of Canada is in Ottawa, he asked. Actually, I don’t, I admitted. Well, it used to be in Toronto (that’s why we have a big parliamentary hall downtown) but you guys kept coming up here and burning it down. We moved it to Ottawa so that you would leave us alone.
AHA.
SOOOOO. The Canadian capital city is Ottawa, because the Americans burned them out of Toronto. At least we held our ground, Canada. We didn’t go running to move our capital to Florida. I hope you enjoy Ottawa, with its proximity to Quebec and it’s 100 days of sub-zero weather. Now that I have this ace in the hole, I’m willing to entertain your quaint retellings of how Canadian Forces (that’s what they call their army) beat the US in the War of 1812, even though it was actually Britain. And “beat” means “didn’t get crushed by.” I’ll just quietly ask why your capital is in Ottawa, and you’ll have no good answer defense. You just keep talking about the War of 1812. That’s SOOO Canadian.
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For more information on this, start with wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Brock
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812
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Hi, you need a serious history lesson. If you are going to write random blogs trying to "prove" Canada is ridiculous or whatever you are trying to do, please research first.
ReplyDeleteThe War of 1812 is not the French Indian war, that war happened in 1754-63 between Britain and the French. This war happened in north america the U.S. and Canada (Both being properties of Britain and France) at the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War
And um, by the way, the War of 1812 is not a "Canadian thing" you guys sing about it EVERY single sporting event etc. the AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM is ABOUT the War of 1812. So I guess it's pretty important to your history too. It was NOT about the Battle of New Orleans. It was about the Battle of Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812-- this is why Canadians say that Americans are stupid...your school system has failed you greatly and this blog makes you look like an idiot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_national_anthem
Also, I think you are forgetting that the U.S. was a British colony too -- you are bashing Canadians for being British in 1812 but it wasn't too long before that the U.S. was as well. The revolution only happened in 1780s -90s.
Why are you so fixed on U.S. military might and picking on Canada? Canada is a country wiht a small population and is respected, why do Americans need to stick it to us? Who cares? Just leave us alone and we are nice, you don't need to bully us to look cool.
If you hate Canada that much, then get a job in the states -- why are you doing an internship in Toronto if the U.S. is so much better. Go HOME!