Some of the Greatest Canadians Were Americans

Statue of a Loyalist family at Hamilton City hall, Hamilton Ontario,
Photo from "The Loyalist" website

Canada's first veterans weren't Canadian, they were American.

Eh?

Well, after the French and English armies met in 1759 on the Plains of Abraham and the French were sent packing, the good folks who lived in Protestant New England were tickled pink.

Until the Brits sent them the bill.

Grumblings about things like taxation and representation grew into a full scale revolution. The problem for some of the locals was that the British Army was still a large presence in the colonies and many people who probably didn't care one way or the other about the king, did depend on the army for their livelihood.

But there was no sitting on the fence. New Englanders were forced to choose.

Those who figured the British Army was invincible and chose wrong soon found themselves in very deep doo doo.

'Tory parasites' as they were called were beaten, some were hanged. Their homes were looted and burned. Property and possessions confiscated. Women were not safe.

Fearing for their lives, many Loyalists rode north to the British outpost at Fort Niagara. 

Once there they joined Colonel John Butler.

Butler's Rangers engaged in raids and skirmishes against the Continental Army and gained a fearsome reputation.

Eventually the war ended, but not well for the good guys.

How sad when the Loyalists realized they couldn't go home.

How daunting it must have been when Fort Niagara was handed over to the Americans and the first settlers crossed the Niagara River into the wilderness that was Canada.

But not only did the Loyalists build a country, some of them, like my ancestor Francis Weaver* who fought with Butler's Rangers at age 14, lived long enough to take up arms against their former countrymen again in 1812.

The new 'Canadians' refused to be driven from their homes again.

In 1814 the Americans retreated to their side of the Niagara River where they have stayed ever since.

A veteran from the War of 1812.
Note the silver maple leaf
and Canadian flag. 

We honour the Loyalist veterans this Remembrance Day.

 *Francis Weaver died of injuries sustained during the War of 1812 but many of his descendants still live in this area. 

Party Like It's 1812

Image via Wikipedia

Not long ago I read an interesting comment about the war with the Taliban. It was written by an American. He asked why his country hadn't learned from its experiences in Canada and Viet Nam that an enemy cannot be defeated in 'his' own country.

Canada?

It took me a minute. And I live in the part of the country that was occupied by American forces 200 years ago. A part of the country that is already gearing up for a big bicentennial celebration of the start of the War of 1812.

The other shoe fell yesterday when I was in Niagara Falls, Ontario with some friends from the Yukon who were passing through on their way to a hiking holiday in Iceland.

The night was sweltering, the crowds were enormous and as we shuffled down Clifton Hill looking like the throng of brain-fried zombies in Stephen King's 'Cell', my friends, Chris and Gary, commented about how much the place looked like an American theme park.

Later over ice cream, Gary, who is from Virginia but has lived in Canada for many years said he thinks that Canadians are going to be going to be disappointed. He thinks that because of all of the financial cutbacks in the US and, (mainly), because the War of 1812 wasn't a glorious victory for the Americans there isn't likely going to be much celebrating going on south of the border in 2012.

I sat there and looked look around at Planet Hollywood, McDonald's, Starbucks, Movieland, Marineland, Ripley's Believe it or Not, etc., etc.,

Jeesh!

Americans, I think, need to redefine 'glorious victory'.