The American revolutionary war of 1776: a war fought to protect the rights, privileges, and properties which Americans felt they possessed as free born Englishman. According to the documentary, History: The American Revolution 1776 Documentary by A Greystone Production, in 1775 “Washington commanded Benedict Arnold, one of the heroes of Ticonderoga, to travel to Canada through Maine with 1,100 troops and take the fortressed city of Quebec.” This would call for a two-pronged attack in which General Philip Schuyler and general Richard Montgomery would lead 1,200 men from Fort Ticonderoga down to Montreal and St. Lawrence. All the while, Arnold and his troops would move up from Quebec and meet them. According to the documentary, Arnolds group had to “overcome tremendous obstacles and faced privation, and pain, and even starvation” in the approximated 385 mile track, if not more, to Quebec. Whether it was the brutal winter or the lack of supplies, many of them died of diseases and or starvation, and a decent percentage retreated. The struggles encountered by the troops made this march all the more imposing. According to the documentary, as said by Benedict Arnold himself, “I have been deceived by every account of our route which is longer and has been attended by a thousand difficulties I never apprehended but if crowned with success I shall think it but trifling”. After the city of Montreal was captured, it was time for the two-pronged attack to commence. In attempts of thinking strategically, it was decided that they would attack during a blizzard, but to their dismay, they were welcomed by led balls being shot from cannons, or as it was referred to in the documentary, “grapeshots”. In summation, of this long night filled with disappointment, they were so close but failed in making Canada the 14th colony. According to the documentary, the British believed that if they let America go that America and the surrounding lands such as Canada would fall. In addition to that, this was also the same time period in which The declaration of Independence came out, and was by far the most important document in this revolution. This is due to the mere fact that The Declaration of Independence did not only talk about no longer being under the British, but also the fundamentals and the foundation of America itself; this was, as stated in The Declaration of Independence that “… all men are created equal…”. Unfortunately, two hundred and forty two years later this is a mere concept yet to be fully achieved. In addition to that, the word ‘men’ was placed in the document purposely being that, in their eyes, no woman could ever be seen equal to a man. Even though it’s said that Jefferson was against slavery and wanted to abolish it through The Declaration of Independence, it doesn’t take away from the fact that he himself was presumed to have owned around two hundred slaves. In the Documentary it states that, “Jefferson's original draft contained a passionate condemnation of the slave trade… but congress itself in session at the Philadelphia State House made sure to approve it only after the condemnation of slave trade was deleted.” In summation, by the end of 1776 New York, its harbor, and the hudson river belonged to the British. The war/feud between America and Britain was not over, and on June of 1812 the United States declared war on Great Britain. Contrary to belief and what is taught in some textbooks, the only ones involved weren’t the British and America. The war of 1812 also involved Native Americans and Canada. The irony is that in some way Canada, America, and the Native Americans were all fighting for what they thought to be their own land and liberty. Often forgotten in this war, the Native Americans joined forces with Great Britain, who was already partnered with Canada, which is where many of the loyalists were. In the documentary, History: The War of 1812 Documentary, it stated, “The Native Nations that fought alongside the British would remember it too, but not as a victory… ‘There's this sense that we lost because what we lost was the ability to Govern ourselves on our own land.’” In the battle of 1812, the Native Americans found themselves fighting for their land, their tribes, their villages, and practically losing it all and not having any say in any of it.
In highschool we are taught that the United States would meddle and somehow would whined up getting into a good amount of battles/wars with other countries. In this case, America would have actually benefited economically if they had stayed neutral, but Britain made it very clear that with their feud between the France they were either with or against them. In result of this, there was quite a turn of events when the British made it nearly impossible for America to trade with France; this is due to the mere fact that the British would tax and even seize their ships. In the documentary it states that, “The british would regard them as enemy unless they paid their ‘duty’ to get across to the french… The royal navy seized hundreds of american ships… and money… they seized men too.” According to the documentary, the British reduced the American army by “10 to 15 thousand” a year, when they only had an army of around “120,000 men” to begin with. Additionally, I found out through the documentary that the British impressed “over 6,000 [American] sailors”. Meanwhile, a good portion of the tribes that lived amongst the Ohio River Valley signed off their lands to William Henry Harrison, except for one: the Shawnee tribe. The Shawnee tribe had a leader at the time by the name of Tecumseh. Unlike the other tribes, Tecumseh fully recognized what was at stake and preferred to sacrifice his own life fighting for his land and his tribe than giving up his land, and what they all knew to be home. In the Documentary of The war of 1812, it stated the differences between the Natives and the Americans just by comparing their leaders, it states, “He [Tecumseh] was different from george washington, whilst the states act on power hunger, wanting more land, violence destroying everyone and anyone in their way, Tecumseh, although he was a warrior, he refused to act on women and children whilst us till this day will bomb and destroy villages of innocents only because it's on enemy territory.” With that being said, Harrisons troops invaded two towns and burned them all destroying everything in their path. They also dug up indian graves, they took scalps and other body parts for souvenirs, and killed woman and children. The natives weren’t defenseless though, they used arms such as the one described in the documentary, the “skull cracker”, and like its name was used to crack skulls. This weapon can be best described as a wooden golf club with a round ball end, and sometimes it had sharp knives or blades at the end of the ball. In addition to that, when they fought, they had a different style of warfare so when they joined forces with the British they were indeed very helpful. Also, they were supplied with weapons by the british; the natives were given weapons such as muskets. At the time, muskets were the modern weapon/technology that was used in warfare, but they were said to be “dreadfully inaccurate, slow to load” and you had to be close to your target. With that being stated, after the British had given the Native American Indians weapons, impressed american sailors, and got in the way of their with their traded, and as expected the United states saw war with the British fit.
The US eventually controlled Lake Erie, which directly affected the British supply line.
Shortly after, “Harrisons Kentucky horseman” proceeded with a line of defense that in return left the British retreating. Unfortunately for Tecumseh and his men, they were left to fight the Americans by themselves. Yet unlike the British, they did not retreat, they fought, and Tecumseh fought until his death. Now with Tecumseh gone, the Americans did not see much of a threat in the Natives. As stated in the documentary, this lead to “sixty two native chiefs signing an armistice with William Henry Harrison”.
Even though the war was between ‘Christian’ nations, there was this common understanding that you did not inflict war on innocent civilians and towns. Yet the irony in this is outstanding, considering the fact that in war/battles the American army, as well as others, were always known to destroy towns and villages filled with innocent and vulnerable woman and children. On the contrary, Native Americans, especially Tecumseh, were known for strictly going against this. Aside from being a great warrior and leader, this is one of the reasons as to why it's believed that even after death, and losing in his last fight, Tecumseh was and still is acknowledged/honored. An example of this would be when American troops burned buildings in Canada York, and another town shortly after. The British then retaliated by burning not one, but three villages in one day. Peoples homes were being destroyed, they were being killed, scalped, tortured, and separated from their families.
Additionally, not many people know that the British did free many American slaves. This is do to the fact that all of these slaves fought alongside the British. It just goes to show how at the time we had slaves everywhere in the north, the south, the capitol; the president himself had slaves… yet America was all about freedom. In continuation, attacking the capital, the British attacked Baltimore, and according to the documentary, “The British held 1,400 cast iron exploding shells at the fort within a 48 hour period. That's a total of about 133 tons of exploded metal over Baltimore Harbor…” Out of this event derived the poem by Francis Scott Key, which would then become the Star Spangled Banner, who was said to be in his ship when the attack occurred. This was a failed attack that essentially in some way resembled how the Americans would not back down.
At the Hartford Convention both America and the British came to terms. It was stated in the documentary that England tried to leave a “buffer” zone between it and Canada, which would be where the Natives would reside, but the United states refused to give up land that they “possessed”. In the documentary it stated that, “The treaties that resolve both the Revolutionary War and the war of 1812 in many ways ignored us [the Native Americans] as primary participants, were we’re not nations in the final resolution of the peace, but they’re still talking about us. They’re the ones deciding our rights, and then when the war is over they divide up our land.” Unfortunately, the war wasn’t officially over, and on the the 1st of December of 1814, the British send a big fleet to New Orleans in hopes of capturing it and with it controlling the Mississippi River and the territory around it: Louisiana. Andrew Jackson then came with his troops who was said to be so diverse that translations had to be given in multiple languages. There were African Americans in his army amongst many others from different groups and ethnicities, yet many African Americans who served were still treated the same. Its stated in the documentary, History: The War of 1812 Documentary, “At dawn on January 8th 1815, in less than 25 minutes, the British had over 2,000 casualties and the Americans had only 70.” After the victory, the peace treaty had arrived, the war was officially over. The land that the British took from the Americans, who took it from the Natives, was now back in the possession of the Americans. In the documentary it states, “Our [Native Americans] land was getting smaller and smaller and smaller so that set in motion a kind of social, political, cultural, and spiritual decay. People got depressed, broken spirit, and broken heart… it's inconvenient truths are twisted to suit or ignored forever.” In the end, the war of 1812, which lasted approximately two years and eight months, was won by the Americans based of the fact that they were able to hold/outlast the British off for a long enough amount of time.