pector@ihuxw.UUCP (Scott W. Pector) (11/11/83)
I'd like to rebut a statement made by an Ontarioan (is this right?) in reference to one of the comments made by McGhee about US-British relations over the last 170 years. The Ontarioan says that the War of 1812 was a "war of conquest" undertaken by the US and that we Americans never hear about it. Well, I have heard a lot about that war and know that there were many causes, not the least of which is the impressment of American seamen by the British Navy. This was one of the most barbaric policies ever condoned by a nation (the US had a similar situation in its merchant marine in the 1830s to 1850s where private ship owners allowed their ship officers to brutalize their crews, which were typically from Europe. This problem is discussed by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his letters to the US Government while acting as a shipping consul for the US at Liverpool, England in the 1850s. See "Nathaniel Hawthorne In His Times" by James Mellow). I have read about this, among other places, in a biography of Thomas Jefferson, but I'm positive any book on the war would discuss this issue. There were many other causes but I wish my Canadian friend would look at both sides. My memory escapes me at the moment for justification on the part of the British, but if someone could check ... I'll try to make time to do so myself, but it may be difficult. Scott Pector