The War of 1812 was declared 200 years ago today. Here is a piece that I was working on highlighting the role of Upper Canada's Legislature in the war, the capital of York and the Queen's Park War of 1812 artefacts. Fascinating conflict, with arguably the flimsiest pretexts for war in the history of conflict (hyperbole, but only a little). As wars go - not to make light of war - this was a mild one with some far reaching identity consequences for what would become the province of Ontario. Thanks to all the people who edited this.
Introduction
On
June 18, 1812, the United States of America
declared war on Great
Britain and their allies. The two years of
fighting that followed would come to be known as the War of 1812. War was
precipitated by numerous conflicts between these two powers. Among them was Britain’s support of the American Aboriginal
tribes obstructing the American plans to expand into the Northwestern territories.
In addition, the Americans objected to both the British search for deserters on
American ships and the British imposition of trade blockades that slowed trade
between the U.S. and France,
a country already at war with Britain.
A deep desire to defend its status as a new and independent nation against its
former colonial ruler spurred on the American declaration of war.
At
the outbreak of the War of 1812 Great Britain
had been embroiled in the Napoleonic wars with France for over a decade. While
they did send troops to the United
States, British forces relied heavily on
local colonial militia and native allies. The shape of the colony’s legislature
was still being forged. The War of 1812 would have a great impact on the
legislature’s location and shape, as well as the lives of the legislators then
and to follow. Ontarians would later consider this conflict to be a test of the
strength of the new colony of Upper
Canada, just as it proved a test of the strength of
the new American republic to the south.
Upper
Canada in the War of 1812
Upper Canada, the region now called Ontario, came into existence in 1791 when the old Province of Quebec
was divided into Upper Canada in the west and Lower Canada in the east. Upper
Canada would be the setting for many of the war’s key
battles. Major regions of conflict
included the Detroit - Windsor
area, the Niagara Peninsula and the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Eastern Ontario. There would also be many naval battles
fought on the Great Lakes.
At
the time of the war’s outbreak, the population of Upper Canada was less than 100,000 people. Primarily an agricultural colony, it consisted
mainly of Loyalists, post-war American settlers, immigrants from Europe and allies from numerous local aboriginal nations. When local men were called to serve in the
militia many would leave behind farms and homesteads to be run by their
families and neighbours.
York,
the Capital of Upper Canada
In
May 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe selected York
as the capital of the newly formed Upper
Canada. Located
on Toronto Bay
and the former home of a French fort, its island to the south, large land mass
to the north, and distance from the border with United States made it an ideal
location.
In
1812, the town of York
was home to less than 1000 people. It hosted
a dock and shipyard, with at least one warship under construction. Along the waterfront was Fort York,
a garrison built in 1793 under John Graves Simcoe. It featured several defensive structures, including
Government House and the Palace
of Government. Fort
York would be the setting
for the American attack in the spring of 1813. York,
now Toronto,
would serve as the seat of the legislature for the majority of the time from
1793 to the present.
The Battle
of York
While
Kingston and Montreal
presented more desirable, more fortified targets in enemy territory, American
troops opted to attack the new town of York.
Part of the rationale was York’s function as the capital of Upper Canada, and as the location of its shipyard.
Primarily, however, the choice was
politically motivated: the pro-war Republican Party needed a victory to draw
support away from the anti-war Federalists, in hopes that the Republican
governor of New York
would be re-elected. Ultimately, the
attack occurred too late to affect the election, but victory was celebrated
preemptively to bolster the Republican candidate.
General
Dearborn led the Americans’ departure from Sackets Harbor, New York
on April 25th 1813. Their
ships were spotted off York
harbour the following day. British forces
were under the command of Major-General Sir Roger Sheaffe, an American-born
loyalist who had taken over for General Sir Isaac Brock after his death in
action the previous year.
On
the morning of April 27th, American troops landed two kilometres
west of Fort York (today, the neighbourhood of Parkdale in Toronto) and were met
by an opposing force first of a small group of local Mississaugas and Ojibways.
Shortly thereafter they were joined by a few regulars and several hundred
members of the militia. Donald McLean,
magistrate and first Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, was a member of the
militia and died from wounds he received in this battle. Local forces were
quickly outnumbered, and the Americans pushed the British back along the
beach. When they reached Fort York,
the British acknowledged defeat. The
majority of the regular forces retreated, and as a ruse left the Royal Standard
up to signal their presence. During
their retreat the British blew up the main magazine, the weapons and gun powder
storage, causing massive American casualties. It was left to local civilian and
militia leaders to surrender the city.
The Occupation of York
The
American occupation of York lasted just six
days, the short duration owing to York’s
nonstrategic location. When the town capitulated,
the occupying army agreed to respect private property, although looting did
take place despite efforts by officers to stand guard against their own troops. The closeness of American and Upper Canadian
families meant that many were accused of being American sympathizers and it
seems some locals joined in on the looting. Government House and the Palace of Government fell under the category of
Public Property, and both were burned to the ground during the occupation.
The
First mace
This
wooden mace was made for Upper Canada’s
parliament and was first used in 1792 in Newark (now
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario),
the first capital of Upper Canada. When the capital was transferred to York, the mace was
relocated as well. This mace is made of
wood, painted red and gold. It was stolen
by the Americans as a trophy of war during the Battle of York, and was housed
at the United States Naval Academy
Museum in Annapolis, Maryland
for over a century, along with the Royal Standard left by the British during
the retreat and a wooden lion from beside the Speaker’s chair. The Americans
also took the Speaker’s wig, mistaking it for a scalp; this has not survived. Unlike
the other trophies, the mace was returned to Canada
as a sign of good will just in time for Toronto’s
centennial celebrations in 1934. This
first mace is now housed at Ontario’s
Legislative Assembly. It has seen active
service during some unscheduled meetings of Parliament when the current mace
was off-site being cleaned. An image of Upper Canada’s first
mace can be seen in the Ontario Legislative Assembly’s official shield.
York and the rest of the war
The
new capital of Upper Canada York continued to serve as an important source of
supplies throughout the war. American
troops returned to York
twice during the war. In July of 1813,
the Americans set out to attack the British supply depot at Burlington Heights,
just west of York.
The troops and supplies were pulled from York
in response. York was undefended and the Americans took
what little that remained. They departed
August 1st.
Enemy
troops approached York
for a third time on August 6th 1814.
British troops spotted the American ship Lady of the Lake near York harbour,
and guns at Fort York opened fire. The American ship retreated without coming
ashore.
The
American capture of York
had direct consequences later in the war.
In August of 1814, the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg. After that victory, they took the American
capital of Washington,
where they plundered and burned much of the city’s public property. Famously, the White House was burned, and the
original mace of the House of Representatives was lost. Many Canadians would have agreed with Sir
George Prévost, Governor-in-Chief of British North
America,
when he
called this “a just retribution,” for the burning of the Legislature. Prévost went on to say “the proud capital of Washington has experienced a similar fate to that
inflicted by an American force on the seat of government in Upper Canada.”
The End of the War
By
1814 Napoleon had abdicated, allowing Britain
to devote more attention to the war it was fighting in North
America. Both sides began
negotiating peace in January of 1814, with each side using their own victories
to push for concessions. The Treaty of
Ghent was signed and finalized in December 1814, but conflict continued until
word of the Treaty reached the United
States many weeks later. In February 1815, the United States ratified
the Treaty, and borders and territories were restored to their pre-war state.
Both
parties considered themselves to have been the victors of the War of 1812. Americans focused on the battles where they
repulsed the British, and felt that their goal of asserting American
sovereignty and expanding west and south had been achieved. In the eyes of the British, their successful
repulsion of an American invasion was a clear victory to the people of Upper Canada.
Legacy of the War of 1812
After
their destruction in the battle of York, the capital’s
Government House and Parliament
Buildings needed to be
rebuilt. The first replacement Legislature was built on the ruins of the
previous building. This was finished in 1820 but burnt down itself in 1824. The
site of both buildings has undergone recent archaeological investigations. While
they waited for a new structure the government met in several places. The
Parliament eventually found its home, first on Front Street in 1834 and then, after Upper Canada had become the province of Ontario,
at Queen’s Park in 1893.
One
immediate consequence of the War of 1812 for Ontario
was the development of supply lines across the province which were out of reach
of the United States.
In addition, many of Upper Canada’s
legislators fought in the conflict. A lasting consequence of the war was the
new unity and patriotism engendered among Upper Canadians and eventually
Ontarians. Heroes were celebrated, battlegrounds
memorialized, and one hundred years later, the war’s centennial was celebrated
enthusiastically. Many Ontarians have
come to regard the War of 1812 as definitive in shaping their province and its
people.
Notable Canadian Combatants
Several
key figures emerged in the War of 1812, making their mark in the history of Upper Canada and becoming focal points for Ontario patriotism.
One cause of the War of 1812 was the British support of the aboriginal nations who presented an obstacle to American expansion into the Northwest. Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who, along with his brother Tenskwatawa (also known as “the Prophet”), organized a confederacy of many nations who allied with the British to fight the Americans. Tecumseh was particularly active along the Detroit front and assisted in the capture of Fort Detroit.
Tecumseh
was killed in action at the Battle of the Thames (also known as the Battle of Moraviantown). Victory at this battle proved decisive for
the Americans: shortly after Tecumseh’s death, the confederacy of nations he
had organized disbanded and surrendered.
Despite Tecumseh’s key role in the war, provisions for Native land
rights were not included in the Treaty of Ghent.
Laura
Secord remains a Canadian heroine and holds an irrevocable place in the collective
memory of the War of 1812.
Like
Laura Secord, Brock is a key patriotic figure in the history of Ontario and the War of
1812.
