They Didn't Teach Us This in High School

Why weren't we taught this in high school history class?

First let me be clear; I'm not a Canadianphobe or an anti-Canadianite, in fact, nothing can be further from the truth. I've always viewed Canadians as a soft spoken, friendly and gentle people (and I still do), however years ago, I experienced a new behavior in a small handful of locals that made me scratch my head wonder if all these years my perception had been wrong.

Back in the 80's, my wife and I decided to go on a road trip to Ontario Canada in search of the site where the Battle of the Thames took place and where the Shawnee war chief Tecumseh was killed.

My Johnson Scandinavian ancestors were adventurous Viking sea faring people, I have a genetic propensity for knowing where I am, geographically, at any given time in any given place. My car is equipped with a compass, but I rarely use it and only in extreme situations. Much to my wife's dismay, I also have a gender propensity for never asking for directions. Anyway, once we got to Detroit I knew all I had to do was point my car east. I was wrong and after wandering around the Canadian countryside for more than 3 hours I decided to swallow my Viking pride and asked my wife to look at her paper map and find out where we were. Turns out we were just a few miles from Thamesville.  Sounded right so I swallowed my Viking pride and we headed that direction.

Cold shoulder, indifference or passive-aggression?

Driving into town I pulled over to the curb and asked a passerby if he could tell me how to get to the Thames battlefield. He just stared at me, turned and walked away. My first thought was perhaps he didn't speak English (lots of French people in Canada). I continued on and found another person and asked him the same question. That individual said he didn't know where it was and walked away without saying another word. I thought this was odd because here I was in the town of Thamesville, supposedly located near the famous battlefield yet no one could tell me how to get there.  One would have thought I was asking for directions to some small town in Eastern Ukraine.

Are they hiding something?

Leaving Thamesville as ignorant as when I first arrived, I decided to fend for myself and drove on following the only road heading east out of town.  Turns out the battlefield site was only 2 miles from town.  This was the site of one of the most significant battles of the War of 1812, the site where the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh had been killed, and  marked began the beginning of the end of British domination in Canada, yet for some reason area residents couldn't OR wouldn't tell me where it was. WHY?  

 

AAAAAHHHH!  Now it's all starting to make sense

One of the things my high school history teachers failed to teach us was tell us that while we were ramping up to fight the British on American soil (again), we were also ramping up to fight them on Canada soil as well.  Hmmm, here all this time I'd thought Canada was just an innocent bystander when in fact, they were actually a target in Americas "crosshairs."  
 

Setting the Stage

Seems England was not getting along with anyone in 1813.   In addition to our outrage  at England for taking American sailors off American ships, England also entering it's 9th year of war with Napoleon in France.   

The British were very much aware that another war with the Americans was possible but also they also knew they couldn’t afford to fight two major wars on two different continents. Sensing England was backed into a corner, President Madison saw this as the opportune time for the United States to rid itself once and for all of English interference, not only on the high seas, but on the entire North American continent as well. Madison's solution; invade Canada and annex it as part of the United States.

The plan 

During March 1812, one month before the U.S. declared war with England,  Madison and his war counsel worked on creating a war plan designed to take advantage of England's preoccupation with the French.  The plan they came up with involved a  three-prong attack into Canada; 

1)  a right prong would advance from Lake Champlain (Vermont) and capture Montreal 

2)  a center prong would march across the Niagara frontier and capture Toronto 

3)  a left prong, already in place at Detroit would cross the Detroit River and seizing the British fort at Amherstburg then advance into the western districts of Canada where they would get support from the large numbers of Americans who had recently been given large land grants there.

The 3-Prong Attack Into Canada

The West Prong Failure

 

The main characters in this drama were American Gen. William Hull and his counterpart, General Isaac Brock of the British Army.

Creating Illusions

Ironically, the British were outnumbered 2 to 1 at the time. Brock learned from reading some of Hulls captured papers that he (Hull) was almost paranoid that if he lost a fight with the British and its Indian allies, all the residents of nearby Detroit would be massacred by Brock's Indian forces. Brock decided that if he could at least create the illusion that his forces were superior in number to Hulls, he might gain an advantage over Hull's troops.

Brock had high embankments built near the river’s edge. Because many of Brock's troops were inexperienced fighters, he had them dressed in the uniform of regulars giving the impression that all his men were battle hardened veterans. He then had his the men march in front of them, so Hull's men could see them. What Hull's men didn't see was that when the men walked behind the embankments, they circled around behind it and walked the same route in front giving the impression that he (Brock) had several hundred more troops than he actually had. At night, Brook had his Indian allies build huge fires along the Detroit River creating the illusion that in addition to his large numbers of "experienced regulars," he also had a very large number of Indians in his force as well.

The "Tour of the Beans"

The "tour of the beans" was another ingenious ploy designed to create the impression that Brooks force was larger than it was. At meal time, the "tour" began with soldiers walking in front of the embankment with their food, walk to the end of then walk behind it where they ate their meal (beans). Once finished, they walked around the front and again encircled the embankment, adding to the illusion that his fighting force was much larger than it actually was.

It Worked

The ploy worked, On August 16, 1812 after a standoff that had lasted several weeks and fearing an Indian massacre Hull surrendered his 2500 men army along with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of military equipment. Hulls troops had marched over 200 miles from Dayton to Detroit and their commander surrendered is army WITHOUT FIRING A SINGLE SHOT. The officers were taken to Detroit and the militia troops pardoned to go home after signing a document saying they wouldn't fight again.

Marched over 200 miles, outnumbered the enemy 2 to 1 and surrendered without firing a single shot.

  

Terror in Ohio

 

With no army to protect them, Ohio citizens feared that the British, Canadian and Indian forces would swoop down into Ohio and murder innocent civilians in their beds. Luckily that didn't happen but as a precaution, the Kentucky militia was called up to build forts along the Auglaize (including Fort Amanda) and the rest is history. Hull was eventually courting martialed and sentenced to be hung but because of his Revolutionary War service, he was saved by President Madison. General Brock didn't live long enough to gloat over his victory, he was killed 2 months later Oct. 13th at the Battle of Queenstown.

Why Did The Invasion Plan Fail?

The  3-prong attack looked good on paper but it didn't work for several reasons.

1.   July (West prong) - Hull surrendered at Detroit.
2.   Oct    (Center prong near the Niagara Border) - New England governors claimed that their militia troops were only to be used defensively.
3    Nov. (East prong) - Militiamen refused to cross the Canadian boarder to take Montreal.  Fear was the Federalists opposed to the war and would not come to aid the troops if they needed help.

At the end of the day, America won no Canadian battles and won no territory

Why did the Brits burn our Capital?  We burned theirs first

Wait, there's more. There's something else my history teacher failed to tell us in high school. We were taught that the nasty British soldiers marched into our nations capital in Washington, D.C. on August 24, 1814 and burned the White House and several government buildings including buildings were much of the wars military records were kept.  

What they didn't tell us was that  year earlier (April 27, 1813), American troops marched into Canada's capital (York) and set fire to the buildings of the Legislative Assembly, the Printing Office, used for publishing official documents as well as newspapers and looted homes.    The burning of the U S Capital wasn't a random act of war, it was retaliation, pure and simple. 

Two parallel points of view

A few years ago, I was talking with a man from Canada who had just become an American citizen. He was also interested in history, so I asked what they taught Canadian school kids about the War of 1812. He said Canadians teach their school kids that Americans attempted to invade Canada and annex it but failed. He added, "We've only been in 2 wars and both of them with the United States?" I really wanted to ask him if he thought Canada won or lost those wars, but I thought it best not to go there. My lasting impression of him was that he was a "soft spoken, gentle and kind individual" and I'd prefer to leave it that way.

Talking with him reminded me of a similar situation involving my family. Like a lot of people, we had family who fought on both sides during the Civil War, one of ours served with Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's army on its famous or infamous "March to the Sea" in 1864. We thought that was pretty cool. When my brother moved his young family to Tennessee years ago, his kids made it known early on that they were proud of their northern heritage and that their granddaddy was not only a Yankee, but a Yankee in Sherman's army. Needless to say, the other kids whose granddaddies fought on the other side weren't quite as impressed and they let the family know that.
I mention this because the Canadians and their view of the American invasion of their country in 1812, are probably no different than the view of Georgians and their thoughts on Sherman's march through their state in 1864. The fact is, when we only look at history from only one point of view and we do it without question, we miss the whole story.   

Conclusion 

While I am sorry that some of my friends to the north are still a little testy about our uh little disagreement 200 years ago, I now understand why.   I am also  happy to learn that the Canadian teachers don't sugar coating the 1812 event and they're telling it like it was. (If only we could get our history teachers to do the same.).    

 

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My book "Fort Amanda -A Historical Redress is an 8" x 10" softcover book with 360 pages of information I've gathered about the fort over a 40 year period. In addition to historical data about the fort, its construction and expansion, it includes 60 pages of biographical / genealogical information of more than 100 men who served there.

If you'd like a signed or personalized copy, send $20 for the book and $4 for shipping ($24 total) to me at:

David Johnson
1100 Little Bear Loo
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035




 

















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So That's Where That Term Comes From

Hmmmmmm. So that's where that term comes from!

My ancestors weren't just poor, they were ..........

In the Paleolithic period, around 40,000 years ago, people started making moccasin-like wraparound footwear out of softened animal skins, or rawhide. This seemingly simple advancement gave humankind a major leg up in long-distance travel and marked the beginning of leather-making. Over time, it was discovered that human urine was an excellent chemical to use for tanning the animal skins. To help offset family expenses, families kept a pot in their homes where family members could empty their bladders"(peed). When the pot was full it was taken and sold to the local tannery.

If you had to do this to survive you were thought to be "piss poor."

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot; they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low.

A Watched Pot Never Boils

The next time you are washing your hands & complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about earlier times. 

Why brides carry a bouquet of flowers  

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. Since they were starting to smell, however, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.  I wonder if in modern times Brides throw their bouquet over their shoulder to a group of unmarried women is the same as saying, "I don't need to worry anymore about how I smell, I found my guy.  Maybe this can help you find yours."  Anyway just a thought. 

Poor Baby

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it . . . hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Raining Cats and Dogs

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, resulting in the idiom, "It's raining cats and dogs." 

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed, therefore, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

They were so poor, they were dirt poor.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, leading folks to coin the phrase "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way, subsequently creating a "thresh hold." Get it, it held the thresh in place; a thresh hold. :-)

Carrying the bride over the threshold

The tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold is not a new tradition; it dates back centuries and has a few different origins.

The first idea for carrying the bride over the threshold stems from the same ancient belief as the idea of an aisle runner and throwing flower petals on the aisle. This belief is that the newlywed couple is very susceptible to evil spirits. By carrying the bride over the threshold, the groom is putting a protective space between her and the floor; thus, protecting her.

Generations ago, it was considered lady like for the new bride to be, or at the very least appear to be, unwilling to “give herself” to her new husband. Whether she was or not was not the issue, it was all about appearances. At the threshold to the bedchamber, the husband would have to carry her over to encourage her to go in.

Another tradition dictates that the new wife must enter her home for the first time by the main door and to avoid bad luck, she must not trip or fall. To avoid this, the groom would carry her into the house.

During the ancient times when people were married by capture, the bride obviously would not go willingly into her husband’s home. So she was either dragged or carried in. Over time it evolved and became the tradition that is practiced today.

Even earlier times believed that family demons followed the bride to her new home. To keep them from entering the home, the groom would carry her across the threshold the first time she entered the home. After that demons could not come in and the bride was free to come and go as she pleased.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, and thus the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Bacon a status symbol

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Killer Tomatoes

           

                                Pewter for the wealthy              Wood for the common folks

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread and Crust

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust."

The Bell Tolls for Thee

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up, creating the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive, so they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.