Fort York in Toronto
Just to make it amply clear, I tagged it in the “experiences” category because I looked into its history, not because I’m 200 years old. During the summer of 2016, I went on a soul searching trip to sort out my identity crisis. Part of this involved finding out what being a Canadian really means. My first port of call was Fort York in Toronto, where the US attacked the former capital of Upper Canada in an attempt to make Canada part of America.
To be honest, I don’t really see any reason for them to attack Canada apart from that fact that it’s a British colony, the US had just made the Louisiana purchase and had a long way to go before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Anyways, after that attack the Canadians repelled the invaders with an inferior army and pushed back towards the US border pending help from the home country. When help did finally arrive, the combined allied forces pushed all the way to the nation’s capital. I even visited the site where the battle took place in Maryland!
Guns at Fort McHenry
Then, after a US defeat, the Canadians entered the District of Columbia and burned both Capitol Hill and the White House. Fortunately for the US, it rained that day and the fire was only able to damage a limited portion of the buildings. The British surrounded Baltimore with a mighty armada and launched Congreve rockets at Fort McHenry. This is the even that led to the composition of the “Stat Spangled Banner”.
Mockup of a gunpowder storage room in Fort McHenry
After the conclusion of the war, it was a clear US defeat. This led to the clear distinction between Canadian and American identities and the Americans no longer saw Canadians as “Americans-in-waiting”. We’re the real superpower of the world, the only country that decisively defeated the mighty US Army. GG, no re.
