Historica Canada Education Portal

This Guide is designed to enhance your students’ knowledge and appreciation of this seminal historic conflict through engaging discussion and interactive activities.

Understanding the War of 1812 and its place in Canada’s history is an important part of a history student’s education. Being able to recognize the different perspectives, experiences, and outcomes that resulted from the War of 1812 is also important. The skills taught in this learning tool are meant to be useful to students throughout their study of history.

In this guide, borders are defined in geographic, political, national, linguistic and cultural terms. Sometimes they are clearly defined and other times they are abstract, though still significant to the populations affected by them. During the War of 1812, borders were often unclear as no proper survey had been done to define the boundaries. Border decisions were made by government leaders and frequently led to decades of disagreements. When borders changed, they often affected the people...

The 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 presents an opportunity for Canadians to turn their attention to this significant time in the country’s history. The War of 1812 had a major impact on the future of British North America and, in particular, on the continent’s Aboriginal peoples, many of whom played an important role in protecting the Canadas (Upper and Lower Canada; now Ontario, Québec and Labrador) from American invasion.