Conrad Black on the War of 1812: Don't blame America

My esteemed and cordial acquaintances of many years, Jack Granatstein and Stephen Clarkson, debated last week at the Royal Ontario Museum, offering opposite arguments on the motion "The U.S. has coveted Canada since the War of 1812." Their views were summarized in op-eds published in these pages on June 9. I gently demur from the opinions of both of them.

Professor Granatstein's basic points, as I discerned them, were that the United States attacked Canada in 1812 because the Americans "believed Britain remained a threat"; that it was the British and not the settlers or native people who defeated them; and that in subsequent decades, Canada was threatened by the United States only because it was the nearest part of the British Empire. Finally, he asserted that Canadian federalism was modelled on that of the United States, and he generally emphasized the North American community of both nationalities, as the early English Canadians were fugitives from the American Revolution. (The French Canadians are ignored in this discussion.)

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• James M. Lundberg on the War of 1812: America's forgotten fight

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• C.P. Champion: The War of 1812 was Canada's war of survival

• John R. Grodzinski: The war of 1812 still matters

© 2024 Conrad Black