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Cargando... Don't Give Up the Ship!: Myths of the War of 1812 (edición 2006)por Donald R. Hickey (Autor), Donald E Graves (Prólogo)
Información de la obraDon't Give Up the Ship!: Myths of the War of 1812 por Donald R. Hickey
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No longer willing to accept naval blockades, the impressment of American seamen, and seizures of American ships and cargos, the United States declared war on Great Britain. The aim was to frighten Britain into concessions and, if that failed, to bring the war to a swift conclusion with a quick strike at Canada. But the British refused to cave in to American demands, the Canadian campaign ended in disaster, and the U.S. government had to flee Washington, D.C., when it was invaded and burned by a British army. By all objective measures, the War of 1812 was a debacle for the young republic, and yet it was celebrated as a great military triumph. The American people believed they had won the war and expelled the invader. Oliver H. Perry became a military hero, Francis Scott Key composed what became the national anthem and commenced a national reverence for the flag, and the U.S.S. Constitution, "Old Ironsides," became a symbol of American invincibility. Every aspect of the war, from its causes to its conclusion, was refashioned to heighten the successes, obscure the mistakes, and blur embarrassing distinctions, long before there were mass media or public relations officers in the Pentagon. In this entertaining and meticulously researched book by America's leading authority on the War of 1812, Donald R. Hickey dispels the many misconcep-tions that distort our view of America's second war with Great Britain. Embracing military, naval, political, economic, and diplomatic analyses, Hickey looks carefully at how the war was fought between 1812 and 1815, and how it was remembered thereafter. Was the original declaration of war a bluff? What were the real roles of Canadian traitor Joseph Willcocks, Mohawk leader John Norton, pirate Jean Laffite, and American naval hero Lucy Baker? Who killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh and who shot the British general Isaac Brock? Who actually won the war, and what is its lasting legacy? Hickey peels away fantasies and embellishments to explore why cer-tain myths gained currency and how they contributed to the way that the United States and Canada view themselves and each other. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)973.5History and Geography North America United States 1809-1845Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (3.38)
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1
For a taste of the analysis presented in this book, let us consider the oft-offered British Impressment of American seamen as a cause of the War. Why did the British adopt impressment? Who were impressed? How many? Why was it a casus belli?
Why? The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars raised the need for Royal Navy seamen from 36,000 in 1793 to 114,000 in 1812, during which 100,000 perished either from accident or disease. Merchant vessels paid better. Being chronically short of enlistments, impressment, a form of loosely structured draft, to use modern terminology, was employed in seaports and merchant vessels of Britain or those of neutrals while in British ports or on the high seas.
Who? British law held that no one could renounce the status of British subject, a position accepted by the United States until 1848, hence even those naturalized as American citizens were, in the British view, liable for impressment.
How many? Estimates vary, but 10,000 is a reasonable figure, few of whom were either naturalized American citizens or mistakenly identified American natives.
Casus belli? Although maritime issues were frequently mentioned at the time, impressment was likely a minor portion of that.
That gives you an idea of the breath of analysis in one of the dozens of subjects examined.
Those possessing an interest in the early American Republic in general or the War of 1812 in particular, owe much to Professor Hickey for his scholarship and authorship. Read “Don’t Give Up The Ship”, savor it and, whenever you have a question about the War of 1812, pick it up and read again. (