It is the forgotten war. Lacking the insurgent gravitas of the American Revolution, or the bloody, fratricidal battlefields of the American Civil War, the War of 1812 has been relegated to history's dusty closet. And yet, though it has been subsequently eclipsed by many, more terrible conflicts, the Anglo-American discord of 1812-1815 not only solidified the United States as a republic bent on Manifest Destiny, it sowed the seeds for the creation of Canada as a nation entirely apart from its more populous neighbor to the south.
Mr. Taylor, a historian of the early years of the United States, has assembled a thorough history of a brief but telling skirmish ignited by British desperation. Faced with a determined and pugnacious Napoleon, the British empire in 1812 ruthlessly pressed into its naval service every half-competent male it could get its hands on. This not only included British citizens who had the misfortune of being snared by the press gangs that roved the British isles n search of able men, it encompassed American citizens still considered by the British government to be subjects of their king. Rising up in defense of their kidnapped sailors, the United States, under the presidency of James Madison, retaliated by fixing the sights of its muskets northward, on Upper and Lower Canada, then English territory. American safety from British aggression, they decided, could only be secured by sweeping the empire from the continent.
However, in 1812, the United States had nothing of the military might it boasts today. And so, what began in ambitious hope for a swift and decisive victory quickly stalemated against unexpectedly fierce resistance from British-backed Canadians who enlisted various Native tribes to their aid. A series of bloody, barbarous engagements saw York looted and the White House burned, but nothing permanently gained on either side, that is, until the famous British victory over Napoleon at Waterloo allowed the world's most powerful empire to turn its attention to its colonies across the Atlantic. But rather than pursue the war any further, the two sides, humbled America and fatigued Britannia, sued for peace, ending a short but telling chapter in the history of human warfare.
The War of 1812 may have been a foolish and unnecessary exchange, but as Mr. Taylor argues in The Civil War of 1812, it solidified the meaning of citizenship. The United States of the 19th century was a little-favored upstart, an experiment widely considered to be destined to fail. These were opinions not only held by the British but by many of the United State's own citizens. In prosecuting a largely unsuccessful war against the British, the U.S. managed to not only bolster its fledgling national identity, it clarified the idea that a human being, while branded at birth by the nationality of his homeland, has the right to pursue the nationality which best reflects his ethics and his ideology. In other words, even if we are is but a fraction of the whole. born into bondage, we have the right to flee that bondage and pursue our freedom where freedom is prized. But while this is an extraordinary and noble idea, it is a shame that it has only been selectively practiced by the country that popularized it.
Mr. Taylor's history devotes as much time to the beginnings of Canadian identity as he does to American consciousness. Though Canada would not be made an independent nation for another 50 years, the War of 1812 ensured its independence from Americanism. Ruthless attacks from American militia founded, in the minds and hearts of the surviving Canadians an identity apart from not only the rapacious Americans but from the complacent British.
This is a gripping read. Mr. Taylor does a wonderful job educating the reader on the background of both the conflict and the nations that fought it. Pleasingly, he gives equal time in his chronicle to both sides while spending considerable time with the Native Indians and the Irish who fought for Canada and America respectively. Of all the forces involved, the Natives come out the worst, having been thoroughly screwed by both sides. But is this not the sad constant in the history of North America?
For all that this is quality work, Mr. Taylor, but for two passing references, completely ignores the burning of the White House by British invaders. I respect that he wanted to focus the attention of his history upon the borderlands, where the main battles were fought, but he devotes more time to American prisoners in English jails than he does to the most memorable incident of this war. It is a glaring oversight for what is, in every other respect, a fine history. (4/5 Stars)
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