Who won the War of 1812?

Question

I've lived in the United States for 10 years and many Yanks say they won the War of 1812. In Canada I hear they won the War of 1812 because they stopped the Yanks from taking over Canada. Yanks, Canucks, and Brits what do you think?

Answer 1

Tactically the British and Canadians won the war of 1812, the U.S. failed to capture Canada, however strategically the U.S. won the war. Canada was not able to get its boundary extended south, more of the great lakes region would up in U.S. territory, the impressment of U.S. sailors into Royal Navy service ended and the the British suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of New Orleans about a month after the Peace treaty of Ghent was signed. All in all it was a waste of time for everyone involved.

Answer 2

Technically it was a draw. However, you could say the US won, since the intent of the British invasion was to resubjegate the "colonies". Something they failed to do. Although they gained no territory, the US maintained its sovereignty. The war also marked the decline of European influence in the western hemisphere.

Canada didnt exist as a Nation in 1812, so anyone saying that Canada won would be incorrect. The intent of the American incursion into what would become Canada was to drive British influence out of North America and seize key stragic settlements. That didnt happen, the march outpaced the supply lines and the garrisons were to well fortified to be routed.

The Americans won some key victories in the battles around Boston and the Port of New Orleans, driving out or stoping the British advances cold. However, they lost other battles on the frontier and in DC, for example.

Most of the battles actually took place after the end of hostilities, due to slow communications across the Atlantic.

Answer 3

Though the battles of early 1814 provided the US with no further opportunities to renew their attacks against Canada, they stopped the British advance and, on a larger level.

Before the Treaty of Ghent was signed by President Madison on February 16, 1815, Britain insisted that America turn a large part of the Northwest Territory into an Indian reservation that would serve as a barrier state between the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. rejected the demands and there was an impasse. American public opinion was so outraged when Madison published the demands that even the Federalists were willing to fight on.

After Napoleon abdicated on April 6, 1814, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending in three large invasion armies, but by then the immature, undisciplined American troops of 1812 and 1813 were, by 1814, suddenly transformed into a fighting force capable of holding ground against British veterans.

British General Prevost launched a major invasion of New York State with 10,000 veteran soldiers, but the American fleet under Thomas Macdonough gained control of Lake Champlain and the British lost the Battle of Plattsburgh in September 1814.

The British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed them to capture and burn Washington, D.C, but they were repulsed in an attempt to take Baltimore.

American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated the invading British Army, intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase. After the Battle of New Orleans, Britain’s bargaining position was weakened and could make no such demands.

At the end of the war, Britain's American Indian allies had largely been defeated, and the American's controlled a strip of Western Ontario centered on Fort Malden. However, Britain held much of Maine.

Both sides signed the Treaty of Ghent and all parties returned occupied land to its pre-war owner.

Answer 4

The War of 1812 (in Britain, the American War of 1812 to 1815), was fought between the United States and the British Empire from 1812 to 1815, on land in North America and at sea. The war ended as a stalemate, with no territory changing hands. The United States, which declared war and attacked British colonies and shipping first, ended the war without gaining any territory; however, the British ceased the sovereignty violations, to which the United States had objected, two days prior to the war.

The war had two major causes: repeated British violations of American sovereignty, and American expansionism, which was later expressed as manifest destiny.

The war formally began on June 18, 1812, with the U.S. declaration of war. The United States launched invasions of Britain's North American colonies in 1812 and 1813, but the borders were successfully defended by British and Native American forces. The United States gained the upper hand in the North American Indian part of the war with victories at the Battle of the Thames, in October 1813, and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, in March 1814, but, by this time, Britain had successfully concluded the Napoleonic wars and the British were finally able to divert more resources to North America. British invasions of American territory resulted in the burning of Washington, D.C. and the capture of part of the District of Maine, but the British counteroffensive was turned back at Lake Champlain, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent (ratified in 1815) restored the status quo ante bellum between the combatants.

On the Great Lakes border, more than half of the British forces were made up of Canadian militia. Additionally, many North American Indian peoples (today most often called Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada) had their own reasons for fighting alongside either the British or the Americans. In the Northwest Territory, the War was, in a sense, a continuation of Tecumseh's War after his defeat in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

Answer 5

The War of 1812, ended as a stalemate, with no territory changing hands. The United States, which declared war and attacked British colonies and shipping first, ended the war without gaining any territory; however, the British ceased the sovereignty violations, to which the United States had objected, two days prior to the war.

Answer 6

Lord Selkirk and his people built a settlement on the Red River-near the 49th parallel of north latitude (Pembina, North Dakota) The United States thought this was an invasion of out borders to gain access to the fur trade.
British trade routes extended from the Great Lakes region
to the Mandan villages in North Dakota. The various river routes were the Fox-Wisconsin river trade route; St. Joseph-Illinois river trade route ; the Grand Portage, Lake Superior; Greenbay, Wisconsin and Prairie DuChien. All these routes would reach to the Mississippi River for further expansion of the fur trade by the British.
The Battle of New Orleans lasted from December 23, 1814 to January 8, 1815- a clear victory for Andrew Jackson. The Treaty of Ghent, Belgium was signed on December 24, 1814 and ratified by the senate on February 16, 1815.
After the war the United States began to establish military forts to secure its borders. In 1816 Fort Howard , Greenbay, Fort Howard, Prairie Du Chien, Fort Armstrrong at Rock Island on the Mississippi River and Fort Edwards, Illinois were all established.
The War of 1812 was called the second war for independence. The British invaded the United States and were sent back retreating to where they came from. Was this a U.S. victory since we held on to our land - I will let you decide.

Answer 7

Dolly Madison. No other luminary from that era has a snack food line named for them.

Ultimately ... everybody lost. The battle casualties. The indigenous persons whose homes and fields were burned. The resources that went into guns and ships instead of tools and plows ... funny how that part comes out the same in every war.

In the western hemisphere ... things ended up pretty much the same after the was as before ... sounds like a draw. In Europe, ultimately, the Prussians and the British beat Napoleon in the real action ... the British incursion into America was just a small side note.

Answer 8

The US. From the Canadian viewpoint, they DID win the War of 1812 because the British drove us out of Canada but still lost the war.

Answer 9

Canada didn't exist. The war was between the US and the British Empire, and although the US succesfully sued for peace, the war was hardly a draw. The British empire marched in Washington and burned down the White House.

The only wars Canada won include their roles in WW1 and WWII, as well as the Gulf War.

Answer 10

The war wasn't between Canada and America. It was between the British and Americans. Canada wasn't even a nation during the war,, nor would it be for decades. The Canadians didn't 'burn washington', the British did. The result was...nothing. A coat of whitewash on the White House, no change in national boundaries, and a lot of dead soldiers. No winners.