War of 1812

[W. K. Lis]

There is a War of 1812 website that has interesting historical articles. See this link.

 

[Admiral Beez]

2. It's a war in which a different outcome would have potentially resulted in Canada's non-existence.

And that in my opinion is the most important point.

In 1988 I was visiting family on the Isle of Wight and attended the beacon lighting celebrations of the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada. It wasn't about glorifying war, but was instead a celebration of the survival of the British people and its way of life.

 

[Tewder]

Tewder:

We shouldn't "mythologize" history, as beneficial (or harmful) as it maybe - we should seek to understand it in the most neutral terms possible. That's the best way to do service of - and more importantly, learn from it.

AoD

I'm not sure it's an isue of 'shoulds' or 'shouldn't's. It depends on the context. From an academic/historic point of view, absolutely, there should be balance. Even then, objectivity is difficult and things inevitably get skewed, as with the recounting of any story...

As far as mythologizing goes, well all societies do it from the most basic to the most complex. It seems to be a fairly fundamental tool that is used, if you go by the work of anthropologists such as Claude Levi Strauss for example. In this sense it's not so much the verity/objectivity of the facts that is important so much as the values/cultural 'truths' that are being represented.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The reenactment this weekend might be good to see http://www.toronto.ca/1812/events.htm