Joe Whitehorn, American Historian Further Reading Index of Historians

On the historical importance of the War of 1812   On the US As I said, first of all, it assures people that the Republic can stand the stress, and the Constitution will not be suborned. And the other thing is that, prior to that, we were still emotionally a little branch of Europe - insignificant edge of the European world. We seem to have broken the knot with that survival. In other words, what was in essence a no-win, no-lose agreement [the treaty of Ghent] for us meant that we had stayed in the ring with the greatest power in the world and we'd at least survived. And so the Republic is vindicated, that's one. And almost as a man, Americans put their backs to the Atlantic, focused on the Rocky Mountains, and for a century devoted themselves to the exploitation, good or bad, of the continent. We didn't really kind of go back into being an international player until the war with Spain at the end of the century. That I think is the most direct result on the American side. It was part of that shakedown I mentioned of the Constitution, and most Americans would say we passed the test, now let's get on with it. On Canada I think on the Canadian side there, on the British North America side, in the face of tremendous odds, with mostly their own local resources, they had prevented this relative giant from marching in and taking them over. It proved it wasn't a mere matter of marching. I think it's the first inkling to the members or the residents of the various provinces that perhaps there is more strength in unity than continuing to be a separate colony, a PEI or what have you. So you have the memory of the resistance and the first inkling of seeing value in larger union, particularly - and we tend to forget this - I think the British, slash Canadians, saw us as a dangerous at most and at least a pesky and annoying neighbour well into the, say, 1880s. If you look at the fort-building, a lot of that stuff occurs every time there's a flap on the American side. And the last fort I believe was Ile Ste. Helene in the 1870s. And the reasons for that is we were to them a dangerous people, so we in essence are a negative compression effect in the direction of unity.