Shedding the celebration of lasting peace which marked the centennial of the war, a new monument in Toronto has been erected for the bicentennial designed to show the Americans who really won the war - the British and Canadians. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...8/11/03/coupland-statue-tweaks-u-s-noses.aspx This of course, flows from the Ontarian myopic view that the entire focus of the war was the conquest of Canada, as well as the ever present Ontarian inferiority complex. Interestingly, the designer fails to mention the utter defeat of the eastern Indians, which cleared the way for American expansion up to the Great Plains. The designer also fails to mention that the war marked the end of all serioius attempts by the British to rein in American westward expansion, and future disputes were primarily focused on the extent of the United States' northern border. Certainly, Canadian/British forces thwarted the War Hawks ambitions to "liberate" Canada, and after the first defeat of Napoleon freed up British troops, the Americans had all they could handle. But the long term consequences leaned in favor of the Americans. While I hope and expect that the U.S. celebration of the event will mirror that of the centennial, the Ontarian position kinda has me hoping that we will add a statute of Perry standing over Barclay next to the Peace Monument on Middle (oops - South) Bass Island.
