War+of+1812

War of 1812 [|The Treaty of Paris (1783)], which ended the war, called for British forces to vacate all their forts south of the [|Great Lakes] border. Britain refused to do so, citing failure of the United States to provide financial restitution for Loyalists who had lost property in the war. The [|Jay Treaty] in 1795 with Great Britain resolved that lingering issue and the British departed the forts. [|Thomas Jefferson] saw the nearby British imperial presence as a threat to [|republicanism in the United States], and so he opposed the [|Jay Treaty], and it became one of the major political issues in the United States at the time. Tensions mounted again after 1805, erupting into the [|War of 1812], when the Americans declared war on Britain. The Americans were angered by British harassment of U.S. ships on the high seas and seizure ("[|Impressment]") of 6,000 sailors from American ships, severe restrictions against neutral American trade with France, and British support for hostile Indian tribes in Ohio and territories the U.S. had gained in 1783. American "honor" was an implicit issue. The Americans were outgunned by more than 10 to 1 by the [|Royal Navy], and so a land invasion of Canada was proposed as the only feasible means of attacking the British Empire. Americans on the western frontier also hoped an invasion would bring an end to British support of [|Native American] resistance to the [|westward expansion of the United States], typified by [|Tecumseh]'s coalition of tribes. The U.S. strategy in 1812 was to temporarily seize Canada as a means of forcing concessions from the British Empire. There was some hope that settlers in western Canada—most of them recent immigrants from the U.S. --would welcome the chance to overthrow their British rulers. However, the American invasions were incompetent and were defeated primarily by British regulars with support from Native Americans and [|Upper Canada] (Ontario) militia. Major British invasions of New York in 1814 and Louisiana in 1814-15 were poorly handled and the British retreated, leaving both sides about where they were in 1812. With the collapse of Napoleon, Britain ended naval policies that angered Americans; with the defeat of the Indian tribes that threat to American expansion was ended. The upshot was neither side had anything to fight over, and the war ended by a treaty that took effect in February 1815. The King's Own was one of the units who marched into Washington. In retaliation for the torching of [|Upper Canada's] capital [|York] (now called Toronto), and to disgrace [|President Madison], they set fire to the president's residence on August 24, 1814, burning down the [|White House]. In later years, Canadians, who remain loyal to the [|Empire] well into the 20th century, viewed the War of 1812 as a successful resistance against invasion and as a victory that defined them as a people. A common theme ever since has been the fear that Canadian culture needs protection from American influence.