Well, you know John, the attempted invasion of Canada during the War For Independence was just another ill-advised plan; one of many during that conflict. Personally, I'm glad that the British forces and their allies fought very hard and very well to keep the 'Yanks' out. America's already too big and diverse to govern from a central location effectively. In addition, without the French fleet, it's rather doubtful that the rebels would have prevailed. Maybe another even bloodier war would have been needed...who knows.

The Capitol needed a facelift anyway, so when the British burned it they were really doing the Americans a favor. It looks pretty nice now.

In reality, the War of 1812 was a series of blunders by the Americans, matched by some even bigger blunders by the British, so it was a rather sloppy conflict. The biggest American victory came about after the war was over, and due to some tragic arrogance on the part of the British commander. Just another irony in the age old history of state sanctioned murder and destruction...sad.

Fire, the wheel, and the I IV V -- foundations of civilization.