while preparing a short program about the War of 1812 for a local town's Old Fashioned Days festival I looked into the early settlers that were veterans of that war and what local conditions were.

what really hit home was how intertwined our history was with France... not just England... worthy of a tome by David mcCullough.

the idea of the War of 1812 being front for a "land grab" never made much sense... though, admittedly there were the "war hawks" who made as much sense as our current "tea party" a-holes. After all, our western border was the Mississippi River until 1803 when Jefferson authorized the Louisiana Purchase - almost a million square miles bought & paid for and open for settlement once you got past the Native peoples.

A position put forward by military historians that makes more sense is that the early USA was most definitely not a military power and thought the best strategy was a quick move to occupy Canadian land to "hold hostage" and bring about a quick resolution of their dispute with England. Ironic in that the resolution had already come about... once again proving that good information is critical to any endeavor.

I'm sure the war hawks thought that Canada would welcome the chance to rid themselves of England's shackles... again wishful thinking worthy of any Tea Party member. It's also been posited that the War of 1812 was largly responsible for creating a feeling of Canadian nationalism... which would explain why many feel about that war the way we feel about Lexington and Concord... where many who had no interest in breaking away from England were then galvanized into support of the Revolution.

Another result of the war was the resolve by the USA to develop an army and navy that would serve to protect our interest at home and abroad... a fairly new idea for a nation that was primarily made up of farmers and merchants. From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli... lol who would have thunk it?