Status Quo Ante Bellum
August 7th, 2006 | by MadHacktress |I am a bit of a history buff and, especially, an American history buff (let’s face it, it’s interesting). I just got through watching Treasure Hunters, a superficial and yet interesting reality TV series that touches on facets of the history and founding of the United States.
Tonight I learned that America won the War of 1812 - at least according to NBC.
Tonight’s episode was a more general episode than others have been. In the past episodes have more specifically concentrated on an era or event - like the underground railroad, or the voyages of Lewis and Clark. The stops included the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City and Girard College in Philadelphia.
I’ll not get in to the fact that one of the members of a team calling themselves “Geniuses” didn’t know how to spell Philadelphia.
A bit of information about Girard College, and more specifically, it’s founder was given upon their arrival. Stephen Girard, was one of the wealthiest men in America at one time. He was an extremely successful shipping magnate who operated between the States and the West Indies. In 1811 he opened his own, self named bank after he purchased most of the First Bank of the United States. He went on, during the later years of the War of 1812, to finance the better part of the war effort as the government continued to need more and more money to keep it up.
He was, in the words of the host of peacock network’s show, the reason that America was able to win the war. Without him, claims the host, he might have been speaking to them with a British accent. Indeed.
Now, I guess I wasn’t there but as far as I have read the results of the War of 1812 were, more or less, status quo ante bellum (I was watching a show about jus ad bellum earlier, so I’m in a Latin mood). But, I guess, well cited documentation is incorrect - or, and I highly doubt this at all, the peacock network was taking a moment to indulge in American pride (the one thing that did come from the war) at the expense of accuracy.
I know that it’s just TV, and indeed just reality TV, but this kind of chest thumping annoys me.
No one won that war, folks. Read. Learn. Remember.
Entry Filed under: In The News, Pure Opinion
As I recall they invaded us, and we’re still here. I think that’s a win for us. They did get their national anthem out of the deal though.
They also got their White House out of it after we burned it down, even though that was after they burned down a better part of Toronto. One hundred and ninety four years on, can we not just call it a draw?
It absolutely was a draw. Each side lost and gained. The Treaty of Ghent pretty much established the pre-war status quo. The big gains of the war were nationalism on both sides. This was the final nail in the coffin of colonialism for the U.S., they were absolutely free of Britain.
And, for Canada, it showed that when push comes to shove, we are the only nation who wants dominion over that many moose.
Well, the way that the war is taught in US schools, we did win the war. The Brits were “trying to recapture the colonies”, and we “beat them back”. And really, as you say in the comment above, it made the US absolutely free of Britain, which is why it’s taught as a “victory” in US schools. Never mind that Madison wanted to seize Upper Canada (and perhaps Lower Canada as well). Never mind that many Americans wanted to “punish” Canadians for their loyalty to the Crown.
And really, the causes of the war were so varied. And New England nearly seceded in order to return to the Empire (the Hartford Convention is hardly EVER taught in US schools). But there were disputes over who should control the fort at Detroit (Ft. Wayne?), for example. And while most Americans are taught about the burning of Washington, the Star-Spangled Banner and the Battle of New Orleans, very few know about the Battle of Lake Erie and the Battle of Ft. Meigs, which were crucial western front victories for the US, which cleared the way for Gen. Harrison to push up Detroit and then across the river and up the peninsula.
The war was a draw, but it the victories in the west offset the losses in the east, and the US remained free of Britain. Many Americans consider that for a “fledgling” nation against one of the powers of the world that such an outcome was a victory, or a moral victory at the very least.