# Canada Erects New Statue to War of 1812 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185 "2008-11-05T02:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/21 "2008-11-05T19:10:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Canada Erects New Statue to War of 1812** > [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/sto...e.html?ref=rss](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/sto...e.html?ref=rss) > > I love it – the statue looks like two giant plastic army men, from 1812, bases and all. That is quite an erection! > [@](#): > > “I’ve grown up and a lot of people have grown up thinking 'Oh, Americans lost that one didn’t they?”’ Coupland said Monday after unveiling the Monument to the War of 1812 outside a condominium near Fort York in Toronto. > > "But once I began getting involved in the project and doing research, I began noticing that the Americans are now starting to change history and they’re saying, ‘Well actually we won that,’ or, ‘Actually, we didn’t lose’ or whatever. > > “So it’s a war monument but it’s also an incitement for people to remember what’s going on in the present as well as the past.” I can’t imagine where he’s hearing Americans mention this. As historically ignorant as we tend to be, I suspect that the only time the War of 1812 crosses most Americans’ minds is when they enjoy the Overture we wrote about it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/22 "2008-11-05T19:29:01Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > It’s kinda cool but it wouldn’t have been better had they made another statue of my [great grandma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Secord). 😃 … out of _chocolate_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/23 "2008-11-05T19:40:57Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > The War of 1812 by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie Say what? I thought it was the Arrogant Worms. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/24 "2008-11-05T20:14:48Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Say what? I thought it was the Arrogant Worms. Both _The War of 1812_ and _The Toronto Song_ are often misattributed to The Arrogant Worms, for some obscure reason. Back in the heydey of Napster, I remember seeing a whole 3DT album with id4 tags identifying it as Arrogant Worms. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/25 "2008-11-05T20:56:35Z")
The US obviously won the War of 1812. Would we use a piece of poetry written during that war if we had lost it? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/26 "2008-11-05T21:03:58Z")
How can you tell if a Canadian statue is historic? The figures aren’t holding hockey sticks. 😃 That sculpture is seriously cool, although I wonder how long it’ll last, given its heavy use of plastic and foam, as opposed to brass, bronze or steel. For that matter, do little boys still play with toy soldiers, or is it pretty much just video games now? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/27 "2008-11-05T21:08:13Z")
I don’t know much about the War of 1812, except that in 1814 they took a little trip along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. They took a little bacon and they took a little beans and they met the bloody British in a town called New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/28 "2008-11-05T22:46:01Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Say what? I thought it was the Arrogant Worms. What Larry Mudd said. Another one often falsely attributed to them is Cows With Guns by Dana Lyons. They say so [here](http://www.arrogant-worms.com/discs.php), right at the bottom they list the songs and links to the actual groups/singers. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/29 "2008-11-05T22:47:22Z")
I don’t understand part of the article - it said the monument was supposed to be a snapshot of when the American soldiers came to Fort York, burned it down, and left - that sounds more like a victory than a defeat to me. Shouldn’t the Canadian soldier be the defeated one then? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/30 "2008-11-05T23:28:26Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812#Niagara_frontier.2C_1813) refers to the battle as the Battle of York. Back then, York was the name of the city now known as Toronto, and it was the capital of Upper Canada. I confess that, while I knew of the British burning the US capital, I had no idea that we burned the Canadian capital. Um … sorry about that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/31 "2008-11-05T23:29:56Z")
There was a lot of that going around in those days, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/32 "2008-11-05T23:46:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812#Niagara_frontier.2C_1813) refers to the battle as the Battle of York. Back then, York was the name of the city now known as Toronto, and it was the capital of Upper Canada. I confess that, while I knew of the British burning the US capital, I had no idea that we burned the Canadian capital. That’s why the British burned down D.C. It was a tit for tat sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/33 "2008-11-06T00:07:13Z")
My understanding is that neither side won or lost the war: Canadians started thinking of themselves as a unified country, and Americans held their own, again, against an enemy largely on their shores, instead of being primarily based an ocean away. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/34 "2008-11-06T00:24:18Z")
Saying that Canadians won the War of 1812 is a bit like saying the American colonists won the French/Indian War. The new 1812 monument is just bloody awful. Seriously, it looks like a couple of giant toy soldiers. That might be great for a Christmas statue but doesn’t work well for a monument. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/35 "2008-11-06T00:46:23Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > It was a draw, inasmuch as it was settled on terms remarkably similar to those both sides could have had before it began, if they hadn’t been so stiff-necked. I think you have to look at who started it and why. If Canada had declared war on the US with an intent to take over, and not gained a square inch, you could justifiably argue that the Canadians lost. Now reverse everything, and you can argue that the Americans lost. And I have frequently come across Americans who believe that America won the War of 1812. I wonder how big a part New Orleans plays in that misconception, even though by the time of the battle the war was technically over. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/36 "2008-11-06T00:46:41Z")
I think that we, as Americans, should do the mature, rational thing and have the CIA send some people to paint the Canadian soldier bright pink. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/37 "2008-11-06T04:25:13Z")
The sculpture whips up nationalism and portrays war as a bloodless game. I think people will love it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/38 "2008-11-06T15:54:44Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I don’t know much about the War of 1812, except that in 1814 they took a little trip along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. They took a little bacon and they took a little beans and they met the bloody British in a town called New Orleans. Yeah, there aren’t quite as many British as there were awhile ago. They commenced a-runnin’. I could get behind the new statuary if instead of two toy soldiers, there was just one, standing triumphantly over a fallen Celine Dion. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/39 "2008-11-06T16:24:36Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > …by force. And graciously. Graciously, and eloquently, and…er…by force. All kidding aside, I would say most Americans are surprised to learn that Canada had anything to do with it, and it’s generally presented to us as a strictly British-American conflict. That may not be entirely unreasonable, if my understanding is correct that Canada really didn’t exist as a cohesive political entity in those days. IIRC that was the gist of the explanations I got here when I asked why only what we now call the United States revolted in 1776, but the Canadian provinces did. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/40 "2008-11-06T16:45:25Z")
**Gfactor** did a Staff Report about the War of 1812, and IIRC it said that most Americans think Americans won, which squares pretty well with what I’ve usually heard people say. The link to the report is dead, though ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185.md?page=3)