When I used to teach U.S. history to college students, our discussion of when the U.S. invades Canada always got a good laugh. I suppose because the idea of invading Canada seems so beyond possible to them today, they don’t know how else to respond. However, it happened once, during the War of 1812.
The War of 1812 is one of those conflicts that flies under the radar in US history, much like the Korean War in the 20th century. I suppose because there are similarities. Neither had a decisive winner, neither affected the global balance of power in a meaningful way, and, being Americans, if we don’t win at something, we’d just as soon forget it happened.
Why the U.S. invades Canada
Why, you might wonder, would the U.S. invade Canada? In brief, here’s why. In 1812, Great Britain was in a long conflict with France known as the Napoleonic Wars. To gain a naval advantage, the British took certain measures not appreciated by Americans. The U.S.’s nonaggression treaty with Britain, the Jay Treaty, had recently expired, and the US government did not renew it. Britain had enough naval power to do whatever it wanted to the U.S. on the high seas.
Once the U.S. decided to declare war on Great Britain over its grievances, the size and power of the British navy was a problem. There was no chance whatsoever of the U.S. sending troops to Europe, landing them in Britain, and conducting military campaigns there. That meant Canada, a British possession rather than an independent nation, was the only option the U.S. had to strike Great Britain and go on offense. The plan was that the U.S. invades Canada and then trades Canada back to Britain for diplomatic concessions.
Please Click Here to Subscribe to My History Blog!
A good plan in theory, maybe, but it belly-flopped in practice. On October 13 of 1812, a British general named Sir Isaac Brock turned back the American invasion at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, just on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. U.S. forces suffered over 1,000 casualties. It was the last serious attempt to invade Canada during the war. U.S. forces haven’t done so since 1812, either.
The fact that it’s not happened in over 200 years, however, doesn’t render the idea that the U.S. invades Canada unimportant. In fact, the possibility it might happen again is one of the truly underappreciated diplomatic facts of the entire 19th century. Britain turned back the U.S. in 1812. A few decades later, U.S. population and strength was much greater. The British knew this. If they went to war with the U.S. again, it was nearly certain the U.S. invades Canada and Britain would lose it. Therefore, Britain must not go to war with the U.S. This fact, maybe more than any other, accounts for the improvement in U.S.-British relations after the War of 1812.
Please Subscribe!
If you enjoyed this blog, please consider signing up to follow it by scrolling down or clicking here, and recommending it to your friends. As always, I welcome constructive and polite discussion in the comments section. Thank you!