3 thoughts on “How to tell if a Canadian is mad at you”
Did they say , Sorry
The National Film Board of Canada published a graphic novel about the war of 1812 as an iPad app. It is free in Canada, has a 4 1/2 star rating, with lots of reviews.
They published the same thing in the US iTunes store and charge $4.99. (So far no reviews or ratings.) Essentially they are charging Americans money to read a free Canadian book about kicking American ass.
I must admit this approach does not seem very Canadian. 🙂
I have read the book, and I really enjoyed it and thought it was extremely well done (it is best experienced using headphones.) But I was quite surprised by it.
Canadians are not generally known for fervent nationalism or jingoistic pride, and while this book didn’t quite reach that threshold, it came close. There was little grey area, the Americans were evil (and this was clearly illustrated) and the Canadians, British and Natives, just and true, and we took our wounds and slaughtered them righteously.
The book is certainly historically accurate, but it is not shy about taking sides in a way that I found surprising. One would expect a Canadian history of the war of 1812 to start with something like “Long ago we had a small disagreement with our friends to the south, that unfortunately escalated into a terrible conflict that would cause great suffering to both nations.” That is not this book.
So, if you’re Canadian, check it out for free. If you’re American, please pay to hear about how evil and vicious you are. 🙂
Chris
This is really hilarious, but it does get old seeing the burning of Washington or the War of 1812 used by Canadians as some sort of national pride. It’s all bollocks.
Canadians had absolutely zilch to do with the Burning of Washington, and it’s just really ridiculous that they continue to think they did. The troops and their officers came from Britain, and prior to the sacking the vast majority of the troops were stationed in Bermuda. There hasn’t been a single confirmed Canadian involved in the entire operation.
Canada was not a country in the War of 1812. There wasn’t even talk of nationality. There was no concept of “Canadian” either. They weren’t really even considered colonies, either. There were a collection of self-run cities and vast wilderness. The most populated area in that time was modern Quebec. They were French and largely hated being occupied by Britons. Modern day Ontario was largely populated by Loyalists from the American Revolution. The area at the time was politically divided between wanting to remain a British colony or being part of the U.S. The rest of the land claimed by Britain at the time was populated mostly by French trappers and Americans who migrated westward. There was no unity in Canada. There wasn’t really much to fight for.
After the American Revolution Great Britain (and later the United Kingdom) didn’t take the U.S. seriously. During the Napoleonic Wars the United States was neutral in the conflict much to Napoleon’s chagrin. The U.S. continued to trade with Europe during the conflict, and the U.S. traded with both France and the United Kingdom during that time. The Britons didn’t like this too much and would capture American merchant ships (even if they were bound for British lands), steal the goods, and impress the sailors into the British Navy saying they were originally British subjects anyway. This even occurred in U.S. waters where British ships were stationed outside U.S. ports in plain view. Also, one of the terms of the treaty that ended the American Revolution was that after a period of time British troops would leave occupied forts on American soil. They refused to do so afterwards, believing there wasn’t anything the Americans could do about it. Britain incited the war all on its own.
These grievances were largely the cause of Prime Minister Percival. Just prior to the war he was assassinated, and the Prime Minister who took over didn’t share his antagonistic views. Lord Liverpool wanted cordial relations with the United States and rescinded the orders to have American ships ransacked and began preparations to leave the forts on U.S. soil. However, this news didn’t arrive to the United States until after the war began in earnest.
The invasion of Canada came out of practicality. The United Kingdom at the time was fighting a war against France in Europe. The United States wanted nothing to do with that war over there, and didn’t want to enter it on France’s side. The Americans had no chance at fighting Britain at sea. What was left for them to make their grievances heard? Canada. There is no evidence that the official policy from the United States was to annex Canada. Some Senators, Representatives, and even former President Jefferson spoke about doing that because they believed it was easy pickings, but President Madison (who controlled the military as Commander in Chief) only wanted to use Canada as a bargaining chip to get what he wanted: to have Britain treat the U.S. as a sovereign country and trade with us. However, it’s easy to see that if the invasion were successful some land would have been annexed especially since there were numerous border disputes not settled by then. It wasn’t successful, and their idea of the the populace’s rising up and greeting them didn’t happen. Much of the populace didn’t fight either. After York the entire Canadian operation was seen as stupid. Canadians didn’t drive the Americans out. The U.S. conquered Upper Canada and left it of its own accord. Britain abandoned the entire area choosing to fortify Montreal and Halifax against potential invasion instead. That little operation there was the entirety of Canada’s involvement in the entire war: a largely successful American invasion that involved little resistance.
Canadians like to see themselves as being buddy buddy with natives during that time, but that was far from the truth. Canadians were just as savage toward natives as Americans were throughout their history. All agreements with native tribes during the war were filled with false promises just as nearly all treaties with them were from all European-originating powers throughout history. The most famous of this war was Tecumseh where the promise of giving him and his tribal coalition land in modern north central America was a pack of lies. He died knowing he was lied to, but he fought anyway because he found the Americans worse than the British… especially the leader of the American forces in the area, William Henry Harrison.
After two years of war there wasn’t any reason to fight it anymore. Americans weren’t being impressed into service, and the British lost control of all the forts on U.S. soil because of the war. Britain was losing numerous land battles in the war and even lost some naval battles. They had absolutely nothing to fight for, and the economy back home was crashing because of enormous debt fighting two international wars along with fighting one of the wars with a potentially larger trade partner if trade restrictions were lifted. When the war ended the Americans essentially got everything they wanted, including cordial relations with Britain that lasts to this day. Britain got a lot of debt. Canada became a nation eventually.
Did they say , Sorry
The National Film Board of Canada published a graphic novel about the war of 1812 as an iPad app. It is free in Canada, has a 4 1/2 star rating, with lots of reviews.
They published the same thing in the US iTunes store and charge $4.99. (So far no reviews or ratings.) Essentially they are charging Americans money to read a free Canadian book about kicking American ass.
I must admit this approach does not seem very Canadian. 🙂
I have read the book, and I really enjoyed it and thought it was extremely well done (it is best experienced using headphones.) But I was quite surprised by it.
Canadians are not generally known for fervent nationalism or jingoistic pride, and while this book didn’t quite reach that threshold, it came close. There was little grey area, the Americans were evil (and this was clearly illustrated) and the Canadians, British and Natives, just and true, and we took our wounds and slaughtered them righteously.
The book is certainly historically accurate, but it is not shy about taking sides in a way that I found surprising. One would expect a Canadian history of the war of 1812 to start with something like “Long ago we had a small disagreement with our friends to the south, that unfortunately escalated into a terrible conflict that would cause great suffering to both nations.” That is not this book.
So, if you’re Canadian, check it out for free. If you’re American, please pay to hear about how evil and vicious you are. 🙂
Chris
This is really hilarious, but it does get old seeing the burning of Washington or the War of 1812 used by Canadians as some sort of national pride. It’s all bollocks.
Canadians had absolutely zilch to do with the Burning of Washington, and it’s just really ridiculous that they continue to think they did. The troops and their officers came from Britain, and prior to the sacking the vast majority of the troops were stationed in Bermuda. There hasn’t been a single confirmed Canadian involved in the entire operation.
Canada was not a country in the War of 1812. There wasn’t even talk of nationality. There was no concept of “Canadian” either. They weren’t really even considered colonies, either. There were a collection of self-run cities and vast wilderness. The most populated area in that time was modern Quebec. They were French and largely hated being occupied by Britons. Modern day Ontario was largely populated by Loyalists from the American Revolution. The area at the time was politically divided between wanting to remain a British colony or being part of the U.S. The rest of the land claimed by Britain at the time was populated mostly by French trappers and Americans who migrated westward. There was no unity in Canada. There wasn’t really much to fight for.
After the American Revolution Great Britain (and later the United Kingdom) didn’t take the U.S. seriously. During the Napoleonic Wars the United States was neutral in the conflict much to Napoleon’s chagrin. The U.S. continued to trade with Europe during the conflict, and the U.S. traded with both France and the United Kingdom during that time. The Britons didn’t like this too much and would capture American merchant ships (even if they were bound for British lands), steal the goods, and impress the sailors into the British Navy saying they were originally British subjects anyway. This even occurred in U.S. waters where British ships were stationed outside U.S. ports in plain view. Also, one of the terms of the treaty that ended the American Revolution was that after a period of time British troops would leave occupied forts on American soil. They refused to do so afterwards, believing there wasn’t anything the Americans could do about it. Britain incited the war all on its own.
These grievances were largely the cause of Prime Minister Percival. Just prior to the war he was assassinated, and the Prime Minister who took over didn’t share his antagonistic views. Lord Liverpool wanted cordial relations with the United States and rescinded the orders to have American ships ransacked and began preparations to leave the forts on U.S. soil. However, this news didn’t arrive to the United States until after the war began in earnest.
The invasion of Canada came out of practicality. The United Kingdom at the time was fighting a war against France in Europe. The United States wanted nothing to do with that war over there, and didn’t want to enter it on France’s side. The Americans had no chance at fighting Britain at sea. What was left for them to make their grievances heard? Canada. There is no evidence that the official policy from the United States was to annex Canada. Some Senators, Representatives, and even former President Jefferson spoke about doing that because they believed it was easy pickings, but President Madison (who controlled the military as Commander in Chief) only wanted to use Canada as a bargaining chip to get what he wanted: to have Britain treat the U.S. as a sovereign country and trade with us. However, it’s easy to see that if the invasion were successful some land would have been annexed especially since there were numerous border disputes not settled by then. It wasn’t successful, and their idea of the the populace’s rising up and greeting them didn’t happen. Much of the populace didn’t fight either. After York the entire Canadian operation was seen as stupid. Canadians didn’t drive the Americans out. The U.S. conquered Upper Canada and left it of its own accord. Britain abandoned the entire area choosing to fortify Montreal and Halifax against potential invasion instead. That little operation there was the entirety of Canada’s involvement in the entire war: a largely successful American invasion that involved little resistance.
Canadians like to see themselves as being buddy buddy with natives during that time, but that was far from the truth. Canadians were just as savage toward natives as Americans were throughout their history. All agreements with native tribes during the war were filled with false promises just as nearly all treaties with them were from all European-originating powers throughout history. The most famous of this war was Tecumseh where the promise of giving him and his tribal coalition land in modern north central America was a pack of lies. He died knowing he was lied to, but he fought anyway because he found the Americans worse than the British… especially the leader of the American forces in the area, William Henry Harrison.
After two years of war there wasn’t any reason to fight it anymore. Americans weren’t being impressed into service, and the British lost control of all the forts on U.S. soil because of the war. Britain was losing numerous land battles in the war and even lost some naval battles. They had absolutely nothing to fight for, and the economy back home was crashing because of enormous debt fighting two international wars along with fighting one of the wars with a potentially larger trade partner if trade restrictions were lifted. When the war ended the Americans essentially got everything they wanted, including cordial relations with Britain that lasts to this day. Britain got a lot of debt. Canada became a nation eventually.