History is more than facts and figures. It is also skewed by our personal experiences, what we are taught, and what we choose to believe. I ran across a discussion concerning the "War of 1812" on line and was delighted reading the different viewpoints. Of course someone had to post this old song...
Well, in eighteen and fourteen we took a little trip along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,And we caught the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.
We fired our guns and the British kept a' comin.There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, I see'd Mars Jackson walkin down the street talkin' to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafayette [pronounced La-feet]He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee and the pirate said he'd help us drive the British in the sea.The French said Andrew, you'd better run,for Packingham's a comin' with a bullet in his gun.Old Hickory said he didn't give a dang,he's gonna whip the britches off of Colonel Packingham.
We fired our guns and the British kept a' comin.There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, we looked down the river and we see'd the British come,and there must have been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum.They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring while we stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise if we didn't fire a musket til we looked 'em in the eyes.We held our fire til we see'd their faces well, then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave a yell.
We fired our guns and the British kept a' comin.There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, we fired our cannon til the barrel melted down,so we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind,and when they tetched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.We'll march back home but we'll never be content till we make Old Hickory the people's President.And every time we think about the bacon and the beans,we'll think about the fun we had way down in New Orleans.
We fired our guns and the British kept a' comin,But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, they ran through the briers and they ran through the brambles And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch 'em down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
We fired our guns and the British kept a' comin.But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
And in response someone else posted this version...
Come back proud Canadians,To before you had TV.No hockey night in Canada,there was no CBC.
In 1812 Madison was mad,He was the president you know.Well he thought he'd tell the British where they ought to go.
He thought he'd invade Canada,He thought that he was tough.Instead we went to Washington,And burned down all his stuff.
And the white house burned, burned, burned.And we're the ones that did it,It burned, burned, burned.While the president ran and cried,It burned, burned, burned.And things were very historical,And the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies Wah-Wah-WahIn the war of 1812.
Those hillbillies from Kentucky,Dressed in green and red.Left home to fight in Canada,But they returned home dead.It's the only war the Yankees lost except for Vietnam.And also the Alamo and the bay of ham.The looser was America,The winner was ourselves.So join right in and gloat about the war of 1812.
And the white house burned, burned, burned.And we're the ones that did it,It burned, burned, burned While the president ran and cried,It burned, burned, burned And things were very historical,And the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies Wah-Wah-Wah In the war of 1812.
In 1812 we were just sitting around,Minding our own business,Putting crops into the ground.We heard the soldiers coming,And we didn't like that sound.So we took a boat to Washington and burned it to the ground.
Oh we fired our guns but the Yankees kept on a coming,There wasn't quite as many as there was a while ago.We fired once more and the Yankees started running,Down the Mississippi to the gulf of Mexico.
They ran through the snow,And they ran through the forest,They ran through the bushes where the beavers wouldn't go,They ran so fast they forgot to take their culture,Back to America, and golf and Mexico.
So if you go to Washington,It's buildings clean and nice,Bring a pack of matches,And we'll burn the white house twice.And the white house burned, burned, burned,But the Americans wont admit it.It burned, burned, burned...It burned and burned and burned It burned, burned, burned I bet that made them mad.And the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies Wah-Wah-Wah In the war of 1812.
Viewpoints varied on the reason for the war... Some say it was in response to the British conscripting American citizens into the British Navy... Others say The British were merely retaking AWOL British sailors and that the war was started because the Americans were invading Canada which was still a British colony at that time.
Both sides seemed to feel that no one really "won" that war although there were some interesting comments on how it changed Canada's capital to a safer location.
The British and Canadians both seemed to agree that the Americans were wrongly trying to take Canadian soil and that the British had every right to invade America to capture their AWOL sailors... But they did not think America should, by that way of thinking, have invaded Canada during the Vietnam conflict to capture AWOL and draft dodging USA citizens...
So, depending on your nationality, the 1812 war was started by_____, because____ and the truth about who won is__________.....
Now, Why were we in Vietnam? .... Depends on who you ask... Why are we in Iraq? ....Hmmm.... Want the World view? , the Liberals view? or the reasons given by the White House?... How will history tell about it?.... depends on who is writing the History books....Facts and figures are only important in how they are skewed to present the version of history they want to teach our children...
QUOTATION: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ATTRIBUTION: George Santayana (1863–1952), U.S. philosopher, poet.Life of Reason, 'Reason in Common Sense,' ch. 12 (1905-6).
Which version are we supposed to remember?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
This reminds me of that story about the three blind men who encounter an elephant. Each examines a portion of the animal and describes the animal's appearance; since each only "sees" a small portion of the elephant, their stories differ greatly.
The most controversial parts of the war today are why did the US declared war and who won. What is really fascinating is that it was settled by the Treaty of Ghent. This provided for the status quo ante bellum or in other words a return to the exact conditions that existed before the war. This fact makes for a less than clear conclusion to the war.
It's interesting that you found that “Both sides seemed to feel that no one really 'won' that war” on the website that you were viewing. I would like to know what website it is as my experience has been that the majority of Canadians and many Britons view the war as a Canadian/British victory. Americans seem to have a divided opinion with some seeing it as US victory and others as no one winning.
As for the cause of the war, Canadians and Brits want to place virtually all the blame on the US, while Americans place most of blame on Britain, but sometimes accept that there were multiple causes, some being the US fault.
The latest book on the war is by a Briton, Jon Latimer, and it supports the most common British/Canadian view of the war as land hunger of the Americans as the cause and a British victory at the conclusion.
As an American who has read several books on this war I believe the British won since the US failed to achieve any of its goals. I don't believe that annexing Canada was in fact a goal of the vast majority of Americans at that time. The main cause of the war was a failure of leadership in the US and Britain to reach a reasonable compromise. Given that Britain was fighting a long war with France this would have been difficult but certainly not impossible.
BTW, we only have some facts from the past and if we had all of them our view of events from the past could be substantially altered.
Post a Comment