Canada and the War of 1812

AMERICAN REVOLUTION SEEN IN NEW LIGHT ACROSS THE BORDER NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE,

Ontario, Canada - We called them Tories and Loyalists, and in our history books we considered them among the "bad guys" of the American Revolution. "Bad guys" is definitely not the image painted by the inscriptions under the historical materials displayed at the Niagara Historical Society and Museum that Carla and I visited at Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Here we found a complete reframing of what the wars we had had with Canada were all about. We, the revolutionists, were the "rebel guerrillas" making raids on the livestock, crops and businesses and homes of Tories and Loyalists, whose only crime was their loyalty to the legitimate British government then ruling the colonies.

According to the museum’s report, nearly 80,000 loyalist refugees were forced to flee the rabble who were harassing and plundering them. As one of the inscriptions says, "They were multiethnic, multiracial, of various social standing and religiously diverse. They sacrificed their lives, homes, lands and goods to live apart from republican Americans believing that injustices should be worked out under the British system of government."

Fort Niagara became a refugee camp for which King George III provided supplies. Some 5,000 of those refugees came across the Niagara River to Canada to start life anew.

According to one inscription, "Following the American Revolution, the government promised each family of refugee settlers the following provisions in 1784: Felling axe for each male over 14, 1 ploughshare and coulter, leather for horse collars, 2 spades, 1 broad axe, 3 iron wedges, 5 iron harrow teeth, 3 hoes, 1" and ½" auger, 3 assorted chisels, 3 gimbits, 1 handsaw and files, 1 frow to split shingles, 2 scythes, 1 sickle, 1 grindstone for every 3 families, seed (wheat, oats, potatoes, flax, Indian Corn and peas), 2 horses, 2 cows, 6 sheep and clothing." That suggests to me that initially, at least, those who fled the revolution and came to Canada did materially better than those who stayed to start the new country.

Of course, that was not the end to the problems between Britain and the United States. More problems were to come for Canadians. The United States aligned itself with one of their villains of history, Napoleon. The British Royal Navy was blockading French ports and stopping merchant ships, including those of the United States. What really got us angry was the king taking 5,000 American sailors and pressing them into British service.

In that regard we look like victims, but the Canadians again painted us as the bad guys. In our eagerness to push our settlements west, we often infringed on the rights of American Indians. The Indians resisted, and we felt the British were aiding them and encouraging them.
We declared war in 1812, and for three years Niagara become a war zone with a number of bloody battles. The Canadians speak of this as an invasion. Niagara was occupied by the Americans three times, enduring heavy casualties and hardships. When U.S. forces left for the third time, they burned all of the buildings. Later as revenge, the British forces burned all of the American towns along the Niagara River.

Homage was paid to the contributions of black citizens to Canada’s history at this museum, the museum at the canal locks, Fort George and Block’s monument. Slavery was abolished in the area in 1738, and escaped slaves set up a community here. During the revolution, they joined the Rangers defending the area.

When the United States invaded during the War of 1812, blacks were formed into companies under white officers to again help defend the country. Still later, the area became one of the end points for the Underground Railroad. The statistics vary, but 15,000 to 30,000 slaves made their way to Canada with the guidance of the North Star.

British uniform at the Niagara Historical Museum

The museum also prominently displays the hat and other effects of Gen. Isaac Brock, one of their heroes of the War of 1812. When the American army invaded at nearby Queenston, Brock rushed his forces to meet the invaders. His combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia and Six Nations warriors won the battle, but Brock was killed. At Queenston, a large monument to him stands in recognition of his heroism.

I suspect that other American visitors like me will also find it instructive to get a perspective from a different point of view on the U.S. history that we studied long ago.

A monument to Gen. Isaac Brock, who died resisting the invasion of Canada near Queenston in 1812 by the American forces.