The war of 1812 is an extremely important historical event which shaped the way our nation is today. The British - American war that lasted for more than two years was crucial to Canada today, in terms of becoming, remaining and having roots of a British nation. This conflict, which started much like it ended, in stalemate, it was in fact a war that once and for all declared American Independence and at the same time attempted without great results to settle disputes between British North America and the Americans. Both sides failed in attempts to capture each others lands, and eventually settled on final boundaries which separated what is known today as Canada from the United States of America. Although there were a few initial causes of the war, it is important to note and keep in mind that amongst those causes territorial conquest was also intended. .
The conflict between the British and the Americans occurred due to the failure of the British forces to withdraw from American territories, their failure to sign commercial agreements and the disputes about the Indians, according to Pierre Berton in his books Invasion of Canada (ca. 1980), and Flames Across The Border (ca. 1980). Therefore the war was based on mixed motives, including political, commercial and patriotic. After two years of aggressive campaigns, a peace treaty finally ended the aggression between the two sides, leaving the Americans much where they were initially before the war (Horsman Reginald, The War of 1812, 1969). After the peace treaty the British policy was consistently seeking entente rather than trouble with the Americans, so in a sense the Americans had won (Bumstead J.M., A History Of The Canadians Peoples, 2003 - pp. 118). The war of 1812 left the Americans with independence for their nation and with the British Empire in peaceful times. The war of 1812 was such an important historical event, that many historians began writing several books about the war.