The War of 1812: Part 1 - Tecumseh and the Aboriginals

Two things have occurred since the War of 1812 that are, one, so very Canadian and the other so very American. For the former, two great Canadian heroes are neither Canadian nor did they really wante to be a part of Canada (Tecumseh, a First Nations leader, wanting a separate native state and British military leader Isaac Brock desperately wished to return to Europe to live and fight there). As for the later, the fact that the U.S. invaded and came away with no territory and nevertheless claimed victory by saying "yeah, well, we won that fight at the end, so, America!" feels just about right as well. But that's a long way off - we have to start a little over fourty years earlier, just after the States told the British that they were going to be moving out of their parents' place and declaring independence.

Back then, land was of the utmost importance. Expansion and the retention of taken lands was critical to the plans of all three parties: the British wanted to establish a colony oversees, hoping to drink tea in a decidedly colder climate; the Americans, again typically American, wanted pretty well everything - land, power, wealth, and future fast food destination spots; the natives really just wanted to rewind things at least to a time where things were somewhat less bleak. The British were kind of on board with the natives' plan, deciding that they would give them a large section of reserved land. This would do two major things for the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada; one, it would placate the large number of aboriginals that didn't seem on board with the whole "we're taking your stuff" strategy of the newcomers, and two, it would create a buffer zone between the increasingly large and menacing American threat that may just decide to step over into their yard and plant their flag in Canadian lands.

Tecumseh dressed like a modern day hipster,
and looked good doing it.

Tecumseh, the hero of the native peoples, was born around this time into the Shawnee people. The Iroquois just took over their Ohio land, displacing them and later selling it to the Americans - something that the Shawnee would not honour as it was not them that had sold it. The next decades of his life were predominantly focussed on surviving constant displacement by settlers forcing them out or surviving raids by the same on his newfound towns. His father died in one of these raids in a last, desperate stand of the dwindling numbers of warriors that were defending. Tecumseh was born into war, and it would be that war that he would eventually die in.

By the time he was eighteen, Tecumseh became a leader of his tribe. He was a great hunter, a provider, handsome and charming, and seemed to be the kind that would do well in the war with the Americans. His first taste of battle, however, didn't go exactly as one would hope. Upon joining the fray, he panicked and ran, deserting the fight. He vowed never show such fear again, but considering the method of warfare at the time was standing some distance from the enemy, loading your rifle, firing at him, and repeating the process until enough are dead that you can cause a retreat or be the one to turn tail, I can't say I blame him for getting out of there. Nevertheless, he returned and started causing quite the raucous - he staged hit and runs, became a respected warchief, and a proven warrior. In spite of his father (and his brother) being killed by the Americans, he still showed restraint when dealing with the enemy. There are a number of accounts of Tecumseh stopping tortures or slaughters of prisoners. However, being a respectable warrior and excellent leader could only go so far. Having so many disparate tribes within the native armies, they lacked a cohesive leader to properly mobilize their forces. If one leader disagreed, he could simply bring his people with him, meaning that without a head the tribes lacked a united front.

But the War of 1812 was between the British and the Americans, with the natives allying with one side or the other, and therefore not the focal point. So what caused them to have such bad blood? The fighting started with more than just a disagreement over what, exactly, is "football". The roots of it began over in Europe, and oddly enough, with Napoleon. The French leader was at war with Britain, and America could obviously trade with both sides, which when left to their own devices was quite lucrative. However, they were playing both sides of the war between the two, and this meant that the European powers would take out American ships that weren't going to a friendly port to stifle supplies to their respective enemy countries. Worse yet, the British would often board these American ships and bring back former British subjects that had deserted and joined the United States, placing them once more in the military of the British crown. The process of taking these soldiers, called impressment, was critical to supplying the large British navy with men to run the ships - regardless of the low morale that must have caused.

Impressment and reduced trade enraged many Americans. A group titled the Warhawks, led by Henry Clay, saw Upper Canada not only as great farmland rife for the taking but also as a means of taking some revenge on those that put a blockade on the trade goods of the U.S.. They thought they could clear the British out of all of America.

An early version of Mortal Kombat. Player one chose Tecumseh.
Player two chose William Henry Harrison.

Meanwhile, Isaac Brock, a British soldier, was placed in charge of the army and sought to defend Canada. However, he wasn't a big fan of the place. He frequently wrote letters wishing to return to England, thinking of the Canadas as some kind of backwater - and he wasn't even placed in Newfoundland. Nevertheless, he worked tirelessly shoring up the defences and preparing for a war that very well may be coming. At 6'2", Brock was an imposing and inspiring man, and if there was a Brit that could get the job done it would be him.

His worries came to fruition when Tecumseh met with the Americans, claiming they were taking their land by force and he wouldn't stand for it. He informed them they were going to be accepting gunpowder from the British, and with that, the chances of ending the disputes without bloodshed were effectively ended. War was coming. A large number of natives sided with the British on the grounds that they were friendlier to their plight, but many others went the American route hoping to be on the winning side. The British refused to back down on their methods of impressment, believing it necessary to fuel the war effort in Europe. The Americans had enough of these pushy, snobby Brits. Fortunately for Canada, this happened before America's bloated military budget came to be.