1812: A Guide to the War and Its Legacy by Terry Copp et al. (review)

Although published by a press apparently attached to a university, there is little that is scholarly about this volume on the War of 1812. It consists of two parts. The first 116 pages contains a general outline of the war, focusing on the battles along the American– Canadian frontier. There is little here that will surprise anyone with even a general knowledge of the War, except perhaps the dubious claim that few of the residents of eastern Maine ‘saw the British as foreign conquerers’ when the British occupied the northeastern coast of Maine in 1814 (p. 103). The people of Maine may have traded with the enemy out of necessity but that does not mean that they did not view them as the enemy. Terry Copp, the author of this section, also downplays the importance of the naval war in the Atlantic, both during the War and in the construction of the historical memory of the War in both Britain and the United States after the War. Moreover, Copp does not seem to grasp that perhaps the most significant, albeit accidental, by-product of the War was that by putting an end to First Nations’ resistance to American expansion the War ensured that American migrants would pour into the Ohio River valley (where five new states would be created in the aftermath of the War) rather than into Upper Canada, thus enabling the British to consolidate their hold over this very precarious borderland. Copp accepts as a given that America would inevitably dominate the North American continent after 1815, when this was a far from certain outcome. The War issued in fifty years of struggle in which the Americans most certainly did not win all the victories. In fact, the history section of the book appears to be based upon a very limited range of mainly Canadian sources, though how limited is difficult to know since there are no notes and only a very brief bibliography. The second half of the book makes no pretence at scholarship. It is a tourist guide to some of the War of 1812 sites in Canada and a much smaller number of sites in the American states along the American–Canadian border. At times the authors seem as concerned to inform people where to find the greatest variety of hotels and restaurants and the best ice cream shop as to explore the history and meaning of the various sites and monuments that are visited. In any event there are more detailed guide books available. In sum, one wonders why this book was published by a university press, since there is absolutely no reason for it be purchased by any university library.