why do canadians take credit for torching the whitehouse during the war of 1812?

Question

Please provide an authoritative source.

i know canada was still a part of Britain at the time, but many canadians say it was canadian troops that burned the capital. I did a report in college on the war and i learned that the english themselves burned it. i was wondering why so many canadians try to take credit?

Answer 1

The british had some strongholds in Canada, but it was British troops that burnt the White house. They approached from Anacostia. Many citizens burned the bridges across the Anacostia River to prevent the British from Accessing DC. The British marched upshore to Bladensburg, (thus the battle of Bladensburg) and then onward to DC and the burning of the White House.

Answer 2

The British controlled Canada at the same time as we gained independance. Canada was the Brittish stronghold from where they would have sent troops and ships to invade us in The War of 1812. If you ever go to Niagara Falls, there is a monument a few miles downriver on the Canadian side where a large battle was fought during that war. We take credit for winning the French and Indian War, but at the time we were still technically part of Britain. It's the same thing.

Answer 3

The British controlled Canada at the same time as we gained independance. Canada was the Brittish stronghold from where they would have sent troops and ships to invade us in The War of 1812. If you ever go to Niagara Falls, there is a monument a few miles downriver on the Canadian side where a large battle was fought during that war. We take credit for winning the French and Indian War, but at the time we were still technically part of Britain. It's the same thing.

Answer 4

When Canadians take credit for the sack of Washington, all that it is our "little man" complex coming out. It happens when you write and recall the history of a small/medium country that just isn't a world shaper. People start looking for exciting things to jazz up their stories and start to make claims they really shouldn't be. Any Canadian with a functioning knowledge of North American history combined with a grasp on reality knows it was the Royal Navy that sacked Washington, won the war, and set things to the path our two nations have followed since. It's just some people want to blow our role out of porportion to make us look better. In reality it's no different from Americans saying they've never been a military aggressor or fought wars for the purpose of conquest. If you cast "facts" right you can make it look that way. Doesn't mean it's true.

Answer 5

I think its interesting that no one, not even the Canadian posters, has mentioned the fact that American forces had burned the parliament building at York (Toronto) earlier in the war.

Perhaps simple retaliation is the explanation for why some Canadians claim credit for burning Washington, D.C.

Answer 6

Sorry, but m'thinks ya got yer facts wrong! It was the Brits, not Canadians (Canadians have been America's best neighbors and the ONLY ones that have come to America's aid in times of famine and floodings while other nations looked on...)

Answer 7

They do??? Those Bastids! I thought it was a few Scottish guys dressed up like native Indians, and like Tecumseth's brother leading the Northern Tribes Confederacy. I guess if you win a war you really can re-write history.

Answer 8

Was the British: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historic_fires

Canada didn't become a nation until 1867. The British ruled Canada at that time.

Answer 9

why not,americans take credit for everything else including the invention of the wheel,so give someone else a go.

Answer 10

Well, you Americans stole our parliamentary mace in that war, but FDR returned it so all is forgiven.