War of 1812 Bicentennial Symposium

 

 

 

Vincent J. Curtis


2 March 2013

 

The War of 1812 came to Hamilton, ON, again.  This time, it wasn’t Americans with guns.

 

In their stead came a number of distinguished historians and scholars armed with words.

 

The engagement, held at the Sheraton-Hamilton Hotel, was a bicentennial commemoration conference whose focus was the decisive events of 1813.  The theme of the conference was “Walking the Razor’s Edge: A Continent in Play.”

 

Both America and Britain were represented.  Leading the list of speakers was Dr. Andrew Lambert, professor of Naval History at King’s College, London.   Dr. Don Hickey, Professor of History at Wayne State College, Nebraska, closed out the symposium.  Twenty-two other speakers were scheduled to lecture in four sessions.

 

In the middle were conference attendees, who numbered 280, according to event organizers Rob McGuire and Tom Fournier.  Some attendees were dressed in period costume, and most of them sounded Canadian.

 

Representing the British side, Andrew Lambert was welcomed with whoops and cheering.  His opening keynote took the view that the war was a paltry affair, so far as Britain was concerned.  Britain had had much more powerful France under Napoleon to deal with.  Britain won the War of 1812 conclusively by crushing American finance through blockade, and then burning down of White House and seizing the USS President in a daring raid in June, 1814.

 

Representing America, Don Hickey was welcomed with good spirits, which he returned.  He entitled his closing keynote provocatively: “Ten things Canadians should know about the War of 1812 but probably don’t.”  He opened by saying “I should have called it ten things average people should know, since only Canadians remember anything about the war at all!”

 

He agreed that Britain won the war, and held British diplomacy before, during, and after the war in high esteem.  The “ten things” were a list items he usually presented to his American military audiences.  Noteworthy among them was Hickey’s calling this Canada’s “war of independence, critical to the evolution of a sovereign Canada.”

 

Enliving and adding colour to the symposium were a number of military re-enactor groups, including: 41^st Regiment of Foot Military Living History Group, 49^th Regiment of Foot (Canadian Military Heritage Society), and, in the person of media liaison Rob McGuire, the 1^st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) Grenadier Company.  The City of Hamilton, Mr. William Longo, and Military Heritage partnered with organizers to put on the conference.

 

War of 1812 symposia has been held annually since 1998.  The bicentennial of 1812 was convened last year at the University of Guelph, in Guelph ON, which organizer Tom Fournier described as a “tremendous success.”  Though attendance was down slightly this year, both Tom Fournier and Rob McGuire pronounced themselves “happy” with this year’s conference.

 

Next year’s bicentennial of 1814 symposium will be held in London, ON.

 

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