Ontario, and probably a good part of the rest of present day Canada, would now be part of the United States were it not for the native warriors who overwhelmingly came to the defence of the British Crown in the first year of the War of 1812-1814. When Congress declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, former president Thomas Jefferson, speaking from his estate at Monticello in Virginia, said “the acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighbourhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching.” Henry Clay, speaker of the House of Representatives, claimed the conquest of Canada could be handled by the militia of Kentucky without any other help.
The two leaders had grounds for their optimism. Britain was tied up fighting Napoleon in Europe and had only one regular line regiment of 900 men and officers dispersed in small garrisons around Upper Canada. The majority of the settlers in the province were recent arrivals from the United States and could not be counted on to rally to the British side. The United States had a population of more than 7 million compared with no more than 500,000 for all of the future Canada, with only 77,000 in Upper Canada. The United States had tens of thousands of militia at its disposition, as well as a small complement of regular forces. The British, however, had the support of the native peoples.
[More]
Bartleman: Remember the native warriors during War of 1812 bicentennial,
Yup, it would, and it would also be a great idea to educate Canadians regarding how ‘the crown thanked them‘ and continues to deal with those peoples – but it’s [very] unlikely to happen.
In the main Canadians and their government would rather not think about that…. it’s far easier and more Euro-romantic to focus on the few brave and out numbered white guys battling bravely in the defence of a subservient not yet nation and bury anything else.
Wouldn’t it be a great idea if on this bicentennial we highlighted the role of the native warriors….
I also agree. From what I remember from history classes in both middle and high school our native warrior allies were an extremely important factor in securing the future of our country. In fact without them Canada might be unrecognizable today by comparison. That’s where I think we have to seriously re-focus our education system, on our own history.
Re: “That’s where I think we have to seriously re-focus our education system, on our own history.”
Many would agree with that statement.
You learned someting about First Nations involvement in the war of 1812 in the public school system? We obviously went to school in different places…… in New Brunswick we
had drilled into uswere taught everything there was to know about the terrible sacrifices made by the UEL’s, the cruel and abominable hardships they suffered, and how the British (GOD SAVE GOOD KING GEORGE !!![/sarcasm]) saved us from the dreadful fate of becoming Americans.Funny thing about that is that every time I go down east I see more and more Americanism, its paraphernalia, and all that seems to go with it.
I got none of this when in school (just like you). However, I took pains to learn about Tecumseh as my interest picked up regarding this war and frequently talked to my children about him, pointing out the area where he died as we drove the 401 hwy.
My only regret in later years is that Canadians don’t know where he lies this day. I find this sad considering the huge debt Canada owes him and I truly mean that.
I continue to wonder whether a native tribe somewhere “knows” and refuses to speak.
I guess we were just lucky and had a teacher who thought it was important enough to talk about.
Well in Alberta we didn’t learn much about the war of 1812 in school. I read up on it on my own and realize it had a great impact on the Ontario psyche and the residual anti-Americanism that remains. However being anti American didn’t get you far when I was growing up since most of us had American ancestors. What’s more our ancestors left the US thinking that Canada was a better nation to live and work and so most Albertans were left scratching our head when the Chretien Liberals were raving against the US.
That’s funny …… there are still hard feelings in Ontario about a 200 year old war …… thanks Joe