Oh dear, is he trolling?

[chickenpuddinMember]

Canadians are rarely patriotic about anything. Probably because we look at all the overly patriotic Americans and think “Oh god, I never want to look like that idiot..”

No offence to any Americans. Just saying that when it comes to “all other countries are inferior” patriotism, America is one of the worst (But definitely not the worst offenders. See: Nazi Germany). But once again, it’s not all Americans, so don’t take that the wrong way if you are American.

EDIT: Please do not in any way misinterpret that as saying America is like Nazi Germany. Not what I meant at all.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  chickenpuddin.

[dehietyiMember]

chickenpuddin:
Canadians are rarely patriotic about anything. Probably because we look at all the overly patriotic Americans and think “Oh god, I never want to look like that idiot..”

No offence to any Americans. Just saying that when it comes to “all other countries are inferior” patriotism, America is one of the worst (But definitely not the worst offenders. See: Nazi Germany). But once again, it’s not all Americans, so don’t take that the wrong way if you are American.

EDIT: Please do not in any way misinterpret that as saying America is like Nazi Germany. Not what I meant at all.

Sadly this is the typical American patriotism.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  dehietyi.

[ibunwestMember]

If it were typical American patriotism…he’d be wearing a Yankees shirt. ;)

[theanimatedheroineMember]

Honestly…I think a lot of Americans are pretty embarrassed by American patriotism too…soooo…yeah.

[ninetails593Member]

chickenpuddin:
I’ve heard many conflicting arguments on this, and a quick Google search does nothing but further confuse the matter. I was under the impression that yes, it was British forces, but a mix of forces from Canada and Britain, the majority being Canadian. They don’t say Canadian forces because Canada was part of Britain, but it was British forces trained in and sent from Canada, lead by an officer from Britain. Most results I have found agree with this, but there are still many that argue against it, although many seem to confuse the fact that just because it says “British” doesn’t mean it wasn’t British from Canada, who were then still referred to as British.

And if this is the case, people also argue that we can’t brag about it because we were still British. But by that logic, why are the Americans able to brag about the American revolution if they were still part of Britain? Just because we were part of Britain doesn’t mean those people’s descendants don’t get to feel pride once the country gains independence.

Actually, Americans signed the Declaration of Independence before the battles of the Revolution. As for the troops that did the deed, they sailed from Bermuda to Benedict, Maryland.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  ninetails593.
• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  ninetails593.
• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  ninetails593. Reason: So many typos >

[soghogMember]

I’m a student of history, so when I heard Fraser ranting about it, I was less concerned about patriotism and more about historical accuracy. As far as I could tell, I couldn’t find any sign of Canadians actually burning down the White House from a quick search.

I also pointed out that “Canadians” weren’t really a thing until 1982 when Canada got its independence from Britain; strictly speaking, they were still British subjects. Go ahead and argue about when “Canada” really came into existance, but I was just pointing out that Canada was still just part of Britain at the time, in fact up to the Civil War it was a staging ground for planned British invasions, which was the main reason why it ever got involved in the War of 1812.

[chickenpuddinMember]

soghog:
I’m a student of history, so when I heard Fraser ranting about it, I was less concerned about patriotism and more about historical accuracy. As far as I could tell, I couldn’t find any sign of Canadians actually burning down the White House from a quick search.

I also pointed out that “Canadians” weren’t really a thing until 1982 when Canada got its independence from Britain; strictly speaking, they were still British subjects. Go ahead and argue about when “Canada” really came into existance, but I was just pointing out that Canada was still just part of Britain at the time, in fact up to the Civil War it was a staging ground for planned British invasions, which was the main reason why it ever got involved in the War of 1812.

Interesting. I had always thought it was Canadians that burnt down Washington, and have heard this from many many other places and people. There’s even an incredibly popular song about it (War of 1812 by The Arrogant Worms. Hilarious Canadian folk/comedy band). It’s just “common knowledge” among Canadians that Canadians (British at the time, but British living and trained in Upper and Lower Canada) burnt down Washington. Perhaps just because the US invaded what is now Canada and burnt down York people assume it was mostly troops trained in Canada that were fighting back.

As for Canada not being around, Upper and Lower Canada were established in 1791, and merged into The Province of Canada in 1841. The British North America Act in 1867 joined The Province of Canada with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to become The Dominion of Canada, which was self governed. We followed all the laws and the constitution of Britain, but were a separate nation where only certain government decisions required approval form Britain. The Statute of Westminster in 1931 gave us status as a completely separate and equal kingdom, and then 1982 was when we established our own Constitutional Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “Canadians” have been a thing since at least 1791, and we have been self governed since far earlier than 1982. Many of our laws and official policies (including official multiculturalism and universal health care) that were uniquely Canadian and did not require British approval date from before 1982.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  chickenpuddin.

[soghogMember]

@chickenpuddin I was referring to back in the war of 1812, they were considered British subjects back then. In fact, that was a key issue of the war; The British were taking a hardline “Once a Brit, always a Brit” stance in regards to naturalized American sailors, so it’s extremely unlikely that they granted the Canadians any autonomy back then.

[deathbyblunderbussMember]

hylian17:
This is the video, you wanted at 12:00… makes me wish they never stopped playing Skyward Sword… ;-;

Haha this part also has the bit where Ben jokingly said he invented Penecilin and I put it in his info on the fan wiki it was in there for awhile too…

[deathbyblunderbussMember]

All I have to say on this is:

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[ninetails593Member]

deathbyblunderbuss:
All I have to say on this is:

Wasn’t the Presidential Palace pink at the time?

[chickenpuddinMember]

soghog:
@chickenpuddin I was referring to back in the war of 1812, they were considered British subjects back then. In fact, that was a key issue of the war; The British were taking a hardline “Once a Brit, always a Brit” stance in regards to naturalized American sailors, so it’s extremely unlikely that they granted the Canadians any autonomy back then.

Yes, I acknowledged that Canada was British in 1812, I just meant that many Canadians believe, as I did, that it was British subjects living and trained in and sent from Upper and Lower Canada who would have descendants that would today be Canadians. My point is that just because they were British at the time doesn’t mean they can’t be considered a part of Canadian heritage. The Americans consider British subjects that had descendants in America part of American heritage, so I don’t see why British soldiers living and trained in Canada can’t be a part of Canadian heritage. Just because we separated doesn’t mean those subjects that lived in Upper and Lower Canada at the time are not a part of Canadian heritage.

But once again, this argument is only useful if it was British living and trained in Canada that were sent to the Burning of Washington. You say you cannot find records of Canadians burning down the white house from a quick search, but that doesn’t address the fact that they would still be referred to as British, not Canadian. But if they were British living and trained in Upper and Lower Canada, I’d argue that that would qualify it as a Canadian act and part of Canadian history.

[ninetails593Member]

chickenpuddin:

But once again, this argument is only useful if it was British living and trained in Canada that were sent to the Burning of Washington. You say you cannot find records of Canadians burning down the white house from a quick search, but that doesn’t address the fact that they would still be referred to as British, not Canadian. But if they were British living and trained in Upper and Lower Canada, I’d argue that that would qualify it as a Canadian act and part of Canadian history.

Actually, the Wikipedia talk page of “Burning of Washington” has several posts going into detail about British-Canadian involvement. Evidently the regiments involved were British or Scottish, coming from involvement in either the Napoleonic Wars or the Peninsula War in Spain and supplemented with British army regulars. At least, that’s according to “Godfather of Naples”.

It doesn’t seem like there was any major involvement of British-Canadians, and google searches of this subject only give results stating this.

[tgorman83Member]

I hate it when people from a certain country do something then years later other people from that country say “we did that thing” as if they were directly involved in the thing in question.

[soghogMember]

Same here ninetails, from what I could turn up the force that attacked Washington were European Brits who arrived from Bermuda. No mention of anyone from Canada whatsoever. Not even any militia, just Royal Marines.

If I had to guess, it was the Arrogant Worms who started this whole “Canada Burned down the White House” thing as a joke, and then people took it as fact. That’s the only explanation I can come up with, as there’s no documentation I can find that says the contrary.

Also, this.

Also, the White House was never pink then turned white by the fire. Why do you think they call it the White House? This seems to be another myth concocted by pop culture.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  soghog.
• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  soghog.

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