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http://1812.gc.ca/eng/1305654894724/1305655293741
From June 18, 1812 to February 16, 1815, the United States was at War with Britain.
Canada was the battleground.
The War represents an extremely significant chapter in the history of Canada and of the United States during which the Americans came very close to annexing Upper Canada (Ontario) and all territory west of it.
In 1793, Great Britain was forced into a war with revolutionary France that would last for the next two decades, with only one very brief respites of peace. The war became global in nature as Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, sought to establish his dominance over Europe and threatened other parts of the World. By 1812, this global struggle was severely straining Britain’s resources.
After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British Royal Navy dominated the seas. The Royal Navy enforced a blockade of Europe, to prevent supplies of warlike materiel, food and other supplies from reaching their enemy. In pursuance of this blockade the navy forced the ships of neutral nations to enter British-controlled ports where contraband cargoes were seized. Neutral merchant ships were stopped on the high seas to be searched by British sailors.
To keep the navy manned, a shortage of volunteers forced the British to “press”, or conscript, men to serve in the navy. The British, like many nations, did not recognize the validity of naturalization and considered all British-born men to be British subjects even if they had emigrated to another country and become naturalized citizens of that country. British-born sailors manning ships from neutral nations, even those carrying American citizenship papers, were pressed into the Royal Navy. To the new republic of the United States, these actions on the high seas and the seizure of American citizens violated of American sovereignty.
Since the end of the American Revolution the United States had been expanding within North America. Settlers continued to move into the interior of the continent, dispossessing and displacing Aboriginal inhabitants as settlements were pushed ever westward. First Nations people resisted, resulting in sporadic raids on frontier settlements and all-out warfare between the United States Army and various Aboriginal Nations.
In the last decade of the 18th century and the first decade of the 19th century, Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee prophet, and his brother Tecumseh, united a number of Aboriginal Nations in a confederacy to resist American westward expansion. The United States accused Britain of supplying equipment and encouraging Aboriginal leaders to repel the Americans, thus interfering with America’s plans for expansion into the Northwest.
In response to the perception that Britain was failing to recognize the validity of the United States as an independent nation, war fever reached its zenith in 1812.
On June 18, 1812, the United States declared War on Great Britain. The primary American war objective was to be the conquest of British North America, primarily Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). This theatre of war would be the focus of American military action.
The Course of the War
In the first year of the war, American strategy was to launch a three-pronged attack on central Canada on the Detroit River frontier, Niagara peninsula and on Montreal. However, the relative unpreparedness of the American military for war and the strong resistance of both the population of Canada and First Nations meant that each campaign met with failure.
In 1813 the same strategy was used and while the Americans gained control of the Detroit frontier as well as temporary control of the Niagara frontier, they were defeated on two fronts late in 1813 in their plan to attack Montreal.
The Treaty of Ghent negotiated on December 24, 1814, and ratified on February 16, 1815, finally ended the war.
The battlefields, associated sites and the heroes and heroines of the War of 1812 were recognized in Canada at an early date as being of national significance.
From June 18, 1812 to February 16, 1815, the United States was at War with Britain.
Canada was the battleground.
The War represents an extremely significant chapter in the history of Canada and of the United States during which the Americans came very close to annexing Upper Canada (Ontario) and all territory west of it.
In 1793, Great Britain was forced into a war with revolutionary France that would last for the next two decades, with only one very brief respites of peace. The war became global in nature as Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, sought to establish his dominance over Europe and threatened other parts of the World. By 1812, this global struggle was severely straining Britain’s resources.
After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British Royal Navy dominated the seas. The Royal Navy enforced a blockade of Europe, to prevent supplies of warlike materiel, food and other supplies from reaching their enemy. In pursuance of this blockade the navy forced the ships of neutral nations to enter British-controlled ports where contraband cargoes were seized. Neutral merchant ships were stopped on the high seas to be searched by British sailors.
To keep the navy manned, a shortage of volunteers forced the British to “press”, or conscript, men to serve in the navy. The British, like many nations, did not recognize the validity of naturalization and considered all British-born men to be British subjects even if they had emigrated to another country and become naturalized citizens of that country. British-born sailors manning ships from neutral nations, even those carrying American citizenship papers, were pressed into the Royal Navy. To the new republic of the United States, these actions on the high seas and the seizure of American citizens violated of American sovereignty.
Since the end of the American Revolution the United States had been expanding within North America. Settlers continued to move into the interior of the continent, dispossessing and displacing Aboriginal inhabitants as settlements were pushed ever westward. First Nations people resisted, resulting in sporadic raids on frontier settlements and all-out warfare between the United States Army and various Aboriginal Nations.
In the last decade of the 18th century and the first decade of the 19th century, Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee prophet, and his brother Tecumseh, united a number of Aboriginal Nations in a confederacy to resist American westward expansion. The United States accused Britain of supplying equipment and encouraging Aboriginal leaders to repel the Americans, thus interfering with America’s plans for expansion into the Northwest.
In response to the perception that Britain was failing to recognize the validity of the United States as an independent nation, war fever reached its zenith in 1812.
On June 18, 1812, the United States declared War on Great Britain. The primary American war objective was to be the conquest of British North America, primarily Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). This theatre of war would be the focus of American military action.
The Course of the War
In the first year of the war, American strategy was to launch a three-pronged attack on central Canada on the Detroit River frontier, Niagara peninsula and on Montreal. However, the relative unpreparedness of the American military for war and the strong resistance of both the population of Canada and First Nations meant that each campaign met with failure.
In 1813 the same strategy was used and while the Americans gained control of the Detroit frontier as well as temporary control of the Niagara frontier, they were defeated on two fronts late in 1813 in their plan to attack Montreal.
The Treaty of Ghent negotiated on December 24, 1814, and ratified on February 16, 1815, finally ended the war.
The battlefields, associated sites and the heroes and heroines of the War of 1812 were recognized in Canada at an early date as being of national significance.
