I didn't post last night because I got involved looking up the Patriot War, of which I had no previous knowledge. I've often wondered why we don't hear a lot about Canada in the news. Seems like we should be more interested in Canada than, say, Afghanistan. Maybe it's because not much happens in Canada these days, but it was not always so.
During the American Revolution, there was at least one incursion into Canada in an attempt to persuade the Canadians to join our guys in rebellion against the Crown. The Canadians were not interested and chased the Americans back across the border. Before that there was a long history of violent confrontations between rival fur companies on both sides of the border, which wasn't very well defined in those days anyway. During the War of 1812, the British torching of Washington, D.C. was in retaliation for a raid that the Americans had made into Canada. Fun fact: If the burning of Washington had not been interrupted by a hurricane, we might all be speaking English today.
I disagree with the assertion that the Patriot War was inconsequential. Of course, it was nothing like the wars we have today, but it inspired the U.S. and Canada to get together to advance their mutual interests.
International relations[edit]
In geopolitical terms, the Rebellions and the Patriot War altered the landscape of relations between Britain and British colonial authorities, on one hand, and the American government on the other.[9] Both nations were dedicated to a peace policy, due to a budding financial crisis, and to a sense of perceived disadvantage, which both felt equally. Both were legitimately concerned about the disruption in relations which radical ideas might foment through further rebellion and raids (this was a greater worry to the British than to the Americans). An unprecedented level of cooperation occurred in diplomatic and military circles. In the United States, in addition to dialogue, the administration of Martin Van Buren used its military forces and local authorities in the enforcement of a new Neutrality Act, encouraged the prosecution of filibusters, and actively deterred American citizens from subversive activities abroad. Thus the Patriot War contributed to the construction of more recent Anglo-American and Canada-U.S. relations; it also led, more immediately, to a backlash among U.S. citizens regarding the seeming overreach of federal authority.[32]
In the process of researching the Patriot War, I stumbled across this one. It didn't do much for U.S. - Canadian relations, but it helped convince the Canadians to form their disparate territories into a federal union, much like Shay's Rebellion did for what would become the United States of America.
No comments:
Post a Comment