The Globe: Do you think there's a risk of overstating the war? There's been a debate in Canada over whether the tone of commemoration is a bit of a cardboard cutout version of history and whether Canadians are making too much of it. To some extent it depends on what's available but we're pretty sure there will be a couple around. And we have a couple of military bands that are very likely to be coming across to join in celebrations and commemorations and play at important occasions. What I thought we would do is mark some of the celebrations that will take place, as I understand it, across a number of towns in Upper and Lower Canada, as it used to be. We've got the Olympic Games in London and we have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee that will be celebrated in realms such as Canada as well. We've got a couple of big events of our own next year. The Globe: What's the British contribution in the 1812 bicentennial or is it pretty much Canada's commemorations? She's, I think, for the United States Navy rather what HMS Victory is for the Royal Navy. She had 44 guns, was built of very hard American oak and rather lighter caliber cannonballs seemed to bounce off her sides hence, the nickname: Old Ironsides. It was a sort of blood-stained draw, I suspect, in terms of naval encounters.īut with Old Ironsides, what impressed the Royal Navy about her was that she was a kind of super frigate. There was a very famous encounter off Boston where a British frigate captain taunted his American counterpart to come out and fight and the battle only lasted 20 minutes. But there were other actions where British frigates beat American sister ships of Old Ironsides. I think Old Ironsides took on and beat a smaller British frigate, HMS Java. Pocock: There were frigate actions in different ways. The Globe: The Americans advertise their antique warship, the USS Constitution or "Old Ironsides," as "undefeated." It was involved in the War of 1812. And there was the contribution, interestingly and importantly, of Quebec: French Canadians, in the defence of their territory, not all that long after a war in which – the Seven Years' War – la Nouvelle-France had become rather reluctantly part of British North America.īut nonetheless they defended Canada, as it was then becoming, in a way that was both positive and encouraging. There was the defence of British North America, with very few regular troops and a lot of Canadian militia. did remind people that there was an emerging naval power, the United States, on the other side of the Atlantic - which was an interesting factor. There were various naval engagements, three of which we lost three of which we won. It's not forgotten for a number of reasons. And winning that was what would change the balance of history – and it did.īut is not a forgotten conflict. And the assets of the British army and the Royal Navy were deployed in blockade and in combat in the peninsula in Spain. At the time, in 1812, the war that profoundly mattered was the war with Napoleonic France. Well in a sense so has the United Kingdom. But I heard the American Ambassador say the other day that it wasn't hugely remembered in the United States because the United States had fought more important wars. ![]() ![]() ![]() Pocock: Well it's not a forgotten conflict by any means. But some of the seeds were certainly sown in 1812 and that is an important and good thing. It took a while for that to crystallize, and it took awhile obviously for Canada to evolve into the con-federal state it became and then the independent state it became – and an actor on the world stage. But I think, as we see from the way the battle is being memorialized here, that it did give people a sense of identity, a sense that they were different citizens of North America from their American neighbours. I mean it was still British North America at that stage. One of life's little ironies.īut I think what really mattered historically, for the War of 1812, was two things: One, the definition it helped to give to the young Canada. I mean the bombs bursting in air were either over Boston or Baltimore. In a light-hearted vein: the United Kingdom, Britain, is responsible for giving the United States two important things from the War of 1812: One is the White House, because we burnt the presidential mansion and the brickwork was so badly scorched they couldn't get the burn out so they painted it white.Īnd secondly, we gave the United States their national anthem.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |