Re: CHAT: "have a Canadian day"

John Cowan wrote:
>
> Robert Hailman wrote:
>
> > In the American War of Independence, the US was the
> > agressor force, and they conquered land held previously by the British.
>
> Of course, from the American point of view, they were resisting legal and
> extra-legal aggression from the British.
>
You're completely right, I'm not doubting the reasons for the
Declaration of Independence, but in the war the Americans were trying to
claim land that was considered to be part of the British Empire, which
makes them the agressor force n the war.

> > The War of 1812, as I see it, was a typical war involving one country
> > attemping to conquer another for its own purposes.
>
> Fair enough, though the conquest of Canada was only one of the reasons
> for which war was declared.
>
I should have said that was the main reason for the invasion of Canada,
the war of course had other reasons. One can't doubt that at the time
the Americans had an eye to rule Canada.

> > Canada had no War of
> > Independence, because British Parliament passed the British North America
> > act in 1867 declaring Canada to be an independent member of the
> > Commonwealth, a title it still holds today.
>
> Legally you are right.  But it was 1812 that made it abundantly clear
> that Canada was a separate country from the U.S., just as 1776 made it
> abundantly clear that the U.S. was a separate country from Britain.  In
> both cases, a previously disputed question was settled, for good, by the sword.
To the Americans it may have been questionable whether Canada would ever
join the Union, but to Canadians it was clear that they would like to
keep their ties with Britian. The War of 1812 may have made it clear
that Canada was to remain independant from the U.S. and keep its ties to
Britian, but the concept that Canada would join the U.S. was strictly an
American sentiment. Your right though, after that it was terribly clear
that Canada and the US were and always would be seperate entities. Same
with the War of Independance. We all know what the results were,
although once I read a book that claimed the Americans won the war of
1812. I never figured out how they reached that conclusion.

--
Robert