In the end we ask who won and who lost the War of 1812. The clear loser in this conflict without any doubt is the Native People of North America. In the summer of 1815, the United States signed fifteen treaties with the tribes, guaranteeing their status as of 1811. But it did not return an acre of land. The dream of the Indian state never came true.
If any one could claim victory it was Canada. The United States declared war on Great Britain and set out to make Canada states in the union. Ten American armies crossed into Canada and all were driven out.
There are even court martial charges laid against some of the American Generals after the Second Battle of La Colle. President Madison tries to put a lid on it, and intervenes, but too late. The American public quickly becomes disillusioned, and support for the war starts to fall away after the burning of Washington. The war should never have been fought. It was motivated by merchants and greed. It had little to do with patriotism, or national pride. The US gained nothing in territory that had not been surrendered to it by the Treaty of Paris.
By the end of the century, many American children have never heard of the War of 1812. By the 1960's, it is reduced to a folk song. The song is entitled "The Battle of New Orleans" it was written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song was recorded and made famous by Johnny Horton in 1959.
When America did look back at the War of 1812 they thought first of the interference with their maritime rights which had caused them to fight, then of the successful exploits of their own privateers. Since the signing of the peace treaty in Ghent conveniently coincided with the end of England's interference in American affairs, they imagined it as a second successful end of the War of Independence.
America's new freedom depended not on the Treaty of Ghent but on the Treaty of Paris in 1814 . It was not the little war against England that won America the blessing of being left alone but the much larger war in Europe against Napoleon, with Napoleon defeated and Britain supreme at sea the world was to see peace for one hundered years. And during this peace America was safe and grew strong.
AI
