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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: War of 1812: 3rd Movement
Message-ID: <481@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Nov-83 18:50:36 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.481
Posted: Mon Nov 14 18:50:36 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Nov-83 09:14:09 EST
References: <583@ihuxw.UUCP>
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
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I appreciate your efforts to put forward the background to the
War of 1812. Since I posted the article to which you have been
responding, I thought I should get back to you directly.

History is always different depending on which side of a war your
ancestors were on, and whose books you are taught at school. My
article was from memory and from the general perception of the
1812 War in this neighbourhood. I did not look up what a respectable
historian had to say about it, and I accept your factual revisions.
Perhaps I will go and look it up for myself in a British or Canadian
history. It would be interesting to see whether professional
historians, as opposed to school propagandists, agree.

But the point I was trying to make was that it really doesn't matter
that each side perceives the other as having not always been
friendly. The foundations have been friendly through most of the
time both before and since 1776 (there was a big pro-colonist party
in Britain during the Revolution, if I have my history right).
The essential point is that good friends should be able to remain
that even though there are occasions when they fight. Britain and
the USA have the same committment to freedom (and sometimes the
same willingness to run roughshod over freedom in the name of
expediancy). The US Bill of Rights is a shining beacon for all
of us (even though polls in the streets sometimes suggest that
not all US citizens agree).

On second thoughts, I think I should post this rather than just mail it.

Martin Taylor