The End of the War

Both the Americans and the British were tired of battling by the end of the year, 1814. There really was no winner of the war. On Christmas Eve of 1814 both sides signed a peace treaty. The war was over. Everything was back to the way it was before the war had started and the Canadians were able to keep their land. If this wasn't the case Canada wouldn't have the Canadian flag and Canadian school children wouldn't be learning about Canadian history such as this.

The Major Events of 1814

The Battle at Lundy's Lane was concidered the bloodiest battle of them all. The Americans crossed the river and then headed north. The British from Fort George went to go and meet them. At sunset, both armies met at Lundy's Lane. The battle was fought underneath a pale moon and mainly in the dark. Many men died...infact almost all of the men died. The Americans and the British both believed that they won the battle. The British believed that they won because they managed to keep the field. In the morning, after the bloody battle war over with, the Canadians burried all of the dead soldiers, even the Americans. August 1814 - The British travelled down into the states, and burnt down the White House in the country's capital. This was payback for when the Americans burnt down York.

Major Events of 1813

In the Spring of 1813, the Americans were at it again. However this time...there plan was to attack York (Toronto) Montreal, Kingston and many other forts along the Niagara River. Many battles that were fought on the lakes. The Americans were more successful winning the battles on the lakes than they were on land. At Moraviantown, the Americans followed the British who were retreating. This was a very poor battle for the British, the Natives seemed to be the only ones who were actually fighting. At this battle Tecumseh was killed. When he died, all the Aboriginals fled. The British were beginning to think that the Americans were going to win the war.

The Battle at Queenston Heights

On October 13th, 1812, after the battle at Fort Detroit, the Americans wanted revenge on Upper Canada at Fort George located in Queenston Heights, only across the Niagara River. The Americans crossed the Niagara River and climbed up the hills at Queenston Heights. They took one of the canons that was guarding the hill. At first the Americans were winning the battle. When General Brock heard about this, he jumped on his horse Alfred and ran towards Queenston, and gave orders to bring all available soldiers to Fort George. The Natives got involved in this battle and were out numbered, 15 - 1. The British and the Native allies, used the attack and run method...over and over. Then the British began to take over again. Eventually, the Americans surrendered. there were 925 prisoners at this battle. During this battle General Isaac Brock was wearing his red tunic. That made him an easy target for one of the American sharpshooters. They took a shot at the General and a musket ball hit him in the chest. Brock died within hours of being shot and was buried at Fort George. Both the British and the Americans across the river fired 21 gun salute to show their respect for the British General and hero of Upper Canada.

Major Events of 1812

In June of 1812, the Americans declared war on the British. At the time, General Isaac Brock was the military commander for the British. He had the difficult job of defending Canada. Brock had just 5000 regular British troops. They 19,000 km of boarder to guard. Being as Britain was already at war with France...Brock had no hope of getting any help. Most of the 100,000 people in Upper Canada were American immigrants, Brock could not trust them to help him. Despite how small his army was and the amount of land they had to cover, Brock had many victories. At Fort Mackinac, located between, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Brock did a surprise attack on the Americans. His troops captured the fort. From 1796 - 1812, Fort Mackinac had been in possession of the U.S. Fort Detroit General Brock was accompanied by Tecumseh and his followers as they attacked Fort Detroit. Before the battle Brock, sent General Isaac Hull, who was the American general at Fort Detroit, a message that said, 'his Aboriginal allies would be beyond his control the moment they began the battle.' The Americans were scared of Tecumseh and his followers. After about 2 hours of battling the Americans surrendered. There were no casualties, and about 2200 prisoners. Later after the battle, Brock and Tecumseh rode on their horses through the ruined Fort Detroit. Brock had realized that a lot of the victory he owed to Tecumseh, and gave Tecumseh his red sash from his uniform and wrapped it around his shoulders. In return, Tecumseh gave Brock his arrow-patterned belt around his waist. Until he died at The Battle of Queenston Heights, General Isaac Brock wore this belt.

The Four Main Reasons for the War of 1812

In June of 1812, the Americans declared war on the British. There were four main reasons for the War of 1812. 1. Trade Barriers At the time, Britain and France were fighting. The Americans were trapped in the middle of the fight. France and Britain were at war since 1793. The United States wished to be able to trade freely with any country of choice but this wasn't possible at the time. Both the British and the French threatened to stop and snatch the goods that was carried on any ship that was sailing in the into the eniemies country. Being as the British had a very powerful navy, they enforced the warning and had stopped almost twice the amount of American ships than the French. The Americans were not pleased about this. 2. British Stop-and-Search Tactics Not only were the British stopping the American ships because of the threat...they were also stopping and searching the American ships for British runaway sailors that were supposed to have been hiding in the American ships. Of coarse some sailors did flee the navy because of bad food, and low wages. The Americans were offended that the British were stopping their ships. Once again...the Americans were not pleased. 3. Britain's Aboriginal Allies In the U.S., there were some American fronteirsmen,who were also known as War Hawks wanted war between the British and themselves. The War Hawks came from around the Appalachian Mountains. The American War Hawks believed that the British in what is now Canada, were supplying Techumseh, who was a Shawnee Cheif, with guns, and other supplies. The American frontier settlements were being attacked and the Americans blammed the Natives for the attacks. 4. The American War Hawks The American War Hawks wanted the war, because they thought that it was time to get pay back on Britian. They thought that they had been offended one to many times by the Stop-and-Search Tactics that the British Navy had done. They were certain that the British were telling Tecumseh to attack the Americans. However, not all of the American War Hawks wanted the war. The Americans thought that taking over what is now Canada, and defeating the British that lived there would be just a 'mere matter of marching'.