War of 1812

[John McGillivray]

There was an interesting documentary shown on PBS last night about the War of 1812. It can be seen on line at the link below.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2089393539

[Marc Montgomery]

the reason for this interest is the 200th anniversary is approaching- the federal govt is investing some millions in commemorating the war of 1812 and other historical events

Maclean.s magazine ran an interesting article
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/10/11/damn-yankees/

[John McGillivray]

Here is another documentary dealing with the War of 1812.

http://www.history.ca/video/#explosion1812/video

[motto]

As I understand it the War of 1812 came about as a result of the Napoleonic War in Europe and involved the US essentially because of British interference with American shipping. As a result of a desperate shortage of manpower for the Royal Navy which was virtually fighting a global war British men o' war were stopping American vessels not only on the high seas but in American waters and seizing any British born seamen on board even if they were US citizens. They went so far as to stop an American naval vessel and take crewmen from it as it left its home port.

The fledgling US navy could not challenge the Royal Navy which subsequently blockaded the entire eastern seaboard of the United States from New England to New Orleans reducing American shipping to almost zero.

The only place the Americans could challenge British interests was on land and that's how the fighting in Canada came about.

To me the most astonishing aspect of the war was the demonstration of the sea keeping abilities of what we would consider to be primitive wooden ships. They were able to keep station and remain effective off the US coast for months at a time. This kind of endurance was not equalled or exceeded until the advent of nuclear power.

David

[chris vickery]

I watched the PBS Detroit replay of their documentary with a keen interest and a watchful eye. I figured that typical of American produced documentaries, that the portrayal would be decidedly, well, American.
I was pleasantly suprised that it was factual, and actually put the slant towards the superiority of the British. It was pointed out several times that the American leadership was basically made up of has been old men from the War of Independance and that the various militia groups had no coehesion, in fact going so far as to say that the leadership was inept from the start. There was plenty of in-fighting among different officers in the fledgling US forces. It appears that one of the major keys to victory was the British alliance with the natives which the Americans were terrified of.

[John McGillivray]

Originally Posted by motto

As I understand it the War of 1812 came about as a result of the Napoleonic War in Europe and involved the US essentially because of British interference with American shipping. As a result of a desperate shortage of manpower for the Royal Navy which was virtually fighting a global war British men o' war were stopping American vessels not only on the high seas but in American waters and seizing any British born seamen on board even if they were US citizens. They went so far as to stop an American naval vessel and take crewmen from it as it left its home port.

David

Americans often give this as the reason for starting the War. However they are ignoring the fact that the Royal Navy was going after deserters from the Royal Navy who were serving on American ships, and the fact that the British had stopped the practice long before the Americans declared the war.
Currently there are deserters from the American Military who have come to Canada and tried to claim refugee status. So far Canada has refused all such claims and has deported the deserters back to the US.