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Who won the War of 1812?

Who won the war of 1812

  • The British

    Votes: 5 23.8%
  • United States

    Votes: 8 38.1%
  • Canada itself

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Jointly Canada and the UK

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No one

    Votes: 6 28.6%

  • Total voters
    21

Juiposa

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The thread title explains itself.
 
Interesting...I would say America won the war, not necessarily from a military standpoint, but economically, because the North was forced to develop industry because of the British blockades. The Brit's and Canada can't say that.

And I'd also say Andrew Jackson won, not only battles, but a bright future.
 
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There is and only ever has been a war that has been called the "War of 1812."
 
The fledgeling American nation barely, just barely, managed to hold off the world's greatest superpower of the time... in part because the Brits were distracted by European matters (little things like Napoleon and whatnot).

It was apparently a very near thing, and without Andrew Jackson we might well have lost.
 
Britain, the War of 1812 was not a war that went well for the US.
 
I've read into all this about how so little Americans know about the war, I've talked to many Americans myself about it and it's sort of sad. What a lot of people don't know is it was that war that set the foundations for the amazing relations our two countries have today.
 
There was no "winner". The treaty of Ghent went back to pre-war boundaries. The result was that the U.S. showed itself capable of defending itself against the British and Canada capable of defending itself against the U.S. Nobody was pleased about spending a large bit of money and lives for maintaining the status quo.
 
Britain, the War of 1812 was not a war that went well for the US.

:wassat1: Ahhhhhh.... the US won. We beat out the invaders and crushed their alliances with the Indians. We 100% won! We showed the world that the US of A is a force to be reckoned with too.
 
There was no "winner". The treaty of Ghent went back to pre-war boundaries. The result was that the U.S. showed itself capable of defending itself against the British and Canada capable of defending itself against the U.S. Nobody was pleased about spending a large bit of money and lives for maintaining the status quo.

For everything that happened, the USA got the best deal. We established ourselves as an independent country in the eyes of the British, we gained some war heroes (one of which became a notable President) and the North's industry really took off.
 
Canada ehh

We burned down the White House
 
No one

Who Won or Lost the War of 1812?
Washington had expected the largely American population of Upper Canada to throw off the "British yoke" as soon as its army crossed the border. This did not happen. Lured northwards by free land and low taxes, the settlers wanted to be left alone. Thus the British and Loyalist elite were able to set Canadians on a different course from that of their former enemy. And the growing belief that they, the civilian soldiers, and not the First Nations and British regulars, had won the war - more mythic than real - helped to germinate the seeds of nationalism in the Canadas. Canada owes its present shape to negotiations that grew out of the peace, while the war itself - or the myths created by the war - gave Canadians their first sense of community and laid the foundation for their future nationhood. To this extent the Canadians were the real winners of the War of 1812.

For the Americans, the outcome was more ambiguous. Since the issues of impressment and maritime rights were not dealt with in the peace, that motivation for war could be considered a failure, despite some spectacular victories at sea, which were indicators of the future potential of American power. Also, the war was a failure for the "War Hawks," who coveted the annexation of Canada. This proved not to be militarily feasible. The conclusions that the war was a "second war of independence' or a war of honour and respect are less easy to judge.

now if you want to talk losers
If the winners are qualified, the losers are easier to identify. The death of Tecumseh and the defeat of the First Nations at the Battle of the Thames broke apart Tecumseh's confederacy. Similarly, in the related defeat of the Creek Nation, the hope of halting American expansion into First Nations territory effectively ended. While in Canada the First Nations fared better in preserving their land and culture; in the end the British abandoned their Aboriginal allies in the peace, just as they had several times before.

Much like at the end of the Vietnam War when the US abandoned the South government to the North leading to it's downfall and take over. The British did much of the same thing with it's American Indian allies leading to the take over of the west and the sense of Manifest Destiny.

War of 1812 - The Canadian Encyclopedia


And not to nitpick or anything but "Canada itself" is not valid due to fact Canada did not have independence until the passing of the British North America Act in 1867. That like saying the US itself won the French and Indian War / Seven Years' War.
 
Britain, the War of 1812 was not a war that went well for the US.

The logical purpose of war is power, either in a land grab or political influence.
England did not gain any more than we did in our foreign adventures.
Will man ever learn???
 
Depends on your conception of victory. The United States didn't capture Canada (its outlined strategic objective) and had its own capital burned in the counter attack, whereas the British/Canadians kept Canada, their outlined strategic objective.

However, the United States established itself as formidable enough that Britain/Canada were obliged to cede a large portion of their territorial stakes in North America to U.S. ambition, as the growth of U.S. power proved pursuing those interests was no longer a viable option.

Indeed, it is possible not capturing Canada while acquiring those rights served our nation far better than capturing Canada (occupation is a huge drain of will, energy, and resources).

I would say it was a minor strategic loss and a significant symbolic victory for the United States.
 
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The US was devestated in many ways, ie.. the losses in Canada and the destruction of Washington DC, etc...but in the end won the war. Another excellent book on the war is 1812: The War That Forged a Nation (P.S.) by Walter R. Borneman.
 
I was unaware that anyone seriously doubted that the UK was the victor of this war... I know every now and then you get the nutjobs saying "America has never lost a war, ever, and Vietnam was a Police Action and the UN lost in Korea not the US, so, we're perfect, yah", but I thought that it was pretty common knowledge to most of the normal populace of the States that they lost this one. It's certainly common knowledge in the UK and Canada.

Now, I'm not claiming that the war was a stunning victory or shattering defeat for either side. It was, as most history books say, a fairly unimportant war in general -- it did nothing to prevent either the States from starting their Manifest Destiny policy a few years later, nor the expansion of the British Empire to dominance in the world and the defeat of Napoleonic France. I'm simply setting the record straight for history. I do also believe that it's important to note the details of history, as well as the grandiose themes, as the smaller actions in history are what comprise the major ones.

On to how the British claim victory. In regards to territories claimed by the British empire -- significant swafts of land in present-day Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin were under a treaty that provided for the housing of Canadian/British troops, and several forts (the only one of which I can name by heart is Fort Mackinac), as well as the permanent disbandment of Fort Dearborn -- which was retrospectively actually beneficial to the Americans, as the location would later become Chicago. However, the most important reason the war must constitute a British victory is that the war was an offensive action by the Americans, who tried to seize all or part of Canada -- resulting in repeated repulsions, and territorial losses by the Americans by the end of the war. It's a fallacy of wars like this one to believe that returning to (nearly) status-quo ante-bellum concludes a tie -- because one side is always the aggressor, and the other, the defender. When an aggressor attempts to seize a castle, say, and the defenders successfully repel the attack, what is the outcome of the battle? It is not a draw, but rather a victory for the defense. To add the icing to the American-defeat-cake, so to speak, the US suffered several incursions into the pre-war territory constituting the US, and, as everyone knows, got their capital pillaged and the White House burned to the ground.

American goals at the beginning of the war were to seize what they could of Canada (American expansionism), and end the impressment of American sailors by the Royal Navy. While impressment largely became a moot subject by the end of the war, as the Brits had defeated Napoleon and needed no more sailors, the United States absolutely failed in its main pre-war goal of annexing Canada. Thus, Canadian victory was absolute, even though territorial gains were largely negligible.

In sum, the US absolutely lost the War of 1812, because it, A. Failed to invade and conquer Canada, B. Failed to repel the British troops in America, C. Gave up several forts to the British in the Great Lakes region, D. Lost their capital, and F. failed to stop impressment by the British Navy.

American loss.
 
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American lost, UK won. The only real reason that the US is around to this day, is that the UK/Brits had bigger fish to fry in Europe against the French. Had Napoleon not happened, then the UK could have retaken then old colonies easily.

It is ironic how much the French helped the birth of the US, and yet are scorned and hated today by many American's..
 
American lost, UK won. The only real reason that the US is around to this day, is that the UK/Brits had bigger fish to fry in Europe against the French. Had Napoleon not happened, then the UK could have retaken then old colonies easily.

It is ironic how much the French helped the birth of the US, and yet are scorned and hated today by many American's..

How do you figger that one?

Battle of New Orleans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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