Great Britain and France had been at war off and on since 1689 in what is sometimes called the Second Hundred Years War. The war also resembled the colonial wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in that it originated over issues in Europe but was fought in North America. In fact, the contest is still called ‘America’s second war of independence’. sovereignty, as a way of completing the American Revolution. Americans saw the war as a vehicle for vindicating U.S. Why is a war with such a profound impact as the War of 1812 largely forgotten today? One reason is that it looked more to the past than to the future. Its impact on American culture was also far reaching and produced ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, Uncle Sam and ‘Old Ironsides’, amongst other symbols of United States nationhood. It was during the War of 1812 that the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh earned his reputation, Laura Secord became famous, and Andrew Jackson began his rise to the presidency. It helps to explain how the Anglo-American alliance originated and why the British welcomed the Pax Americana in the twentieth century, as well as why Canada never joined the American Union and why American expansion after 1815 aimed south and west rather than north. The conflict shaped both the United States and Canada as well as their relationship with Great Britain for nearly a century thereafter. Wars can best be measured by their consequences, and the legacy of this war was both multifaceted and lasting. The war may be largely forgotten, but it left a huge legacy that is still evident today. The War of 1812 may have been a small and inconclusive war, but it had a profound and lasting impact of all the belligerents.
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