From the epilogue of "Six Frigates"

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

a great new book on the birth of the US Navy, and the War of 1812

discussing whether the politicians that voted for the war would be punished when, after the Treaty of Ghent was ratified, it was obvious the entire war was pointless...
"It was not to be. The American public was in no mood to be told the War of 1812 had been futile and unnecessary. They much preferred the story told by the Republicans (note.. NOT the GOP)-- that Americans had prevailed in a great patriotic campaign... The humiliating reverses in Canada, the near-succession of New England, the widespread trading with the enemy, the collapse of the national finances, the near-total destruction of trade, and the hard fact that none of the war's formal objectives were achieved in the treaty--all these considerations were quickly wiped from public memory, and the War of 1812 was proclaimed a "Second War of Independence"


Wow. Does that ring a bell for anyone?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. When you had loved ones who either died

in battle, or became ill from incarceration by the British, I could see where it would be important to try and create the myth of victory.

[Lisa]

2. 1812 was a horrible foreshadowing of the Civil War, too ...

I grew up on the Canadian side of the Niagara Frontier. A surprising number of the people who fought on the British side were actually born in the US, and so in some ways it really was a civil war. I had thought that Canadians had been brave and heroic, in driving back the invasion, but as I learned more, I saw how ugly the fighting was. There were some commando-style raids into the US where civilian populations were terrorized and their homes destroyed. Also, many of the US invaders were kids who had been duped (and some weren't even properly-trained soldiers). Some of the contemporary accounts are like descriptions of the burned-out communities in the former Yugoslavia. I particularly remember one where the young American fighters were looting a bakery in Ontario. They were so hungry that they were gobbling the unbaked bread dough.


Sounds like a great book -- thanks for the recommendation!