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canadiana|DELIGHTS
FitzGibbon did write letters of support for
her later appeal for a government pension
for her actions, but he provided no details
concerning the timing of her warning. (Secord
has been memorialized many times,
most famously in chocolate. But chocolate
has no connection to her or the war; company
founder Frank O’Connor chose her
name because she “was an icon of courage,
devotion and loyalty.”)
The war reached its official end on
Christmas Eve 1814 with the signing of
the Treaty of Ghent, which determined
that all conquests were to be restored and
the boundary disputes deferred to joint
commissions, essentially maintaining the
pre-war status quo. Unfortunately, the
news didn’t reach North America until
February and in the meantime the Battle
of New Orleans was a major American
victory that assuaged American feelings
over the burning of the White House.
New Orleans was not the last engagement
of the war, however; there were several
naval skirmishes, including the absolute
final battle of the war, which was fought
in the Indian Ocean in June 1815 between
the US sloop-of-war Peacock and the East
India Company cruiser Nautilus.
The War of 1812 is neither the longest
nor bloodiest war ever, but its conclusion
is perhaps the most ambiguous. The
situation in Europe had changed with
Napoleon exiled to Elba. The peace treaty
did not solve boundary disputes nor did
it address impressment or maritime rights.
Canada was not annexed to the United
States, as the war hawks had hoped. There
was no absolute victor, but it is clear that
the First Nations lost. Tecumseh’s death at
the Battle of the Thames broke up the confederacy
that was his goal in supporting
the British. The First Nations’ defeat ended
their hopes of stopping American expansion
into “Indian Territory.” The British
abandoned their Aboriginal allies, breaking
their promises as they had so often.
In Canada, the seeds of nationalism
were sown by the belief — mythic or
not — that “we” had won the war whose
outcomes shaped our present geography.
National identity has had much to do with
the mythology of the war for both Canada
and the United States, but more so in Canada,
given our seemingly endless quest for
a discernible identity. Though it’s not clear
if the war was a win, loss or draw, perhaps
that doesn’t matter 200 years later; we
have our heroes.
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Laura Neilson Bonikowsky is an Alberta
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