What if~The War of 1812 ended decisively?

The War of 1812, this was the last time that the United States and Great Britain found themselves fight each other. Today, it's so hard to imagine these "good friends" were once bitter enemies.

The War of 1812 was one of those wars that was.........quirky. Yeah, it was because of trading and territorial issues, but what made it "quirky" is because it seemed so that it was going to end with no clear winner, and there were reasons why. The United States was still a fairly new country that barely had a standing army nor did they have the resources to take on a fighting force like Britain. Likewise, Britain was militarily and economically tired from fighting against Napoleon by 1814.

But, what if in an alternate reality, The War of 1812 \*did\* end with a clear winner? What would happen, and how the nations would take it? This is what this page will cover. But, of course (and as usual) some context. You can just scroll down to the "what if" segment if you want to just read about the alternate scenario.

## Forward

Because this alternate reality was about a war with just 2 nations fighting, I'm going to make up 2 separate alternate scenarios. One where the Brits win, and another where the US won. To my own knowledge, both these scenarios have a 50/50 chance of being realistic.

## Real History

There were a lot of reasons why the War of 1812 happened. One of the reasons was that the US was helping France (somewhat) during the Napoleonic Wars, and the Brits were blockading Napoleon's France during the wars, and the Brits were none to pleased that the US was helping Britain's enemy (or Europe's enemy to be precise). Another reason is that the US wanted Canada, and the Brits were "none too pleased" (and so were the Canadians that were living there). So, in 1812, the United States said that it was going to war with the Brits..............again.

If you remember in my previous pages about the Korean War, and how it went back and forth for the north and the south (led by the USA and China respectively) taking and losing cities in the process. Well, it happened in the war of 1812. First, the USA invaded Canada, taking Toronto and burning it to the ground, and the Brits and the Canadians turned the tables and took Detroit (burning it to the ground). The US had more luck in defending New Orleans, but not so much with Washington DC as the Brits came in and "burned it to the ground". Despite tight defenses at Ft. McHenry.

That is until a Tornado came in and forced the Brits to leave. Talk about karma.

Despite sporadic battles in the war, it could continue until 1815 when both sides agreed to the "Treaty of Ghent" and the war ended with no exclusive rights for either side, but relations between the US and Britain would improve over time.

## What if?

So now, here comes the $1,000,000 question. What if The War of 1812 ended with a clear winner?

Now, I did mention earlier that there's going to be 2 separate scenarios. One where the Brits win, and where the Americans win. But in order for either 1 of these scenarios to happen, specific battles would have to go in a different direction (a detour if you will).

## Scenario #1: British Victory

Let's say in this alternate reality, the US loses in the Battle of New Orleans, and Ft. McHenry fell to the Brits. What happens? Well, the Brits would still sack DC and destroy more of the city than they did in our reality. This would be a huge bow in the American war effort, but would this mean that the USA would fall and re-join the Brits? Well, no.

The Brits were only interested in defending Canada, not destroying the United States, in fact the Brits really didn't care too much about their disputes with the Americans at the time, they had dealt with Napoleon and that pretty much bled Britain dry (as in draining Britain's bank account).

So, the only thing that Brits "could" do is force the Americans to recognize some of their territories (such as Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) was one giant Native American reserve. But it might not only be reserved for Native Americans, but to also serve as like a buffer zone between the USA and Canada. Though, this is unlikely because it would be a small patch of land as the USA would surround this huge "Native American Reserve". To oversimplify, this area reserved for Native Americans wouldn't last for long as it'll be recognized once again as US Territory.

What is more likely to happen, is that it'll leave a huge bruise on America's Ego. Americans today are taught through it's educational and TV Propaganda systems is to wear the pride of their home country on their sleeves as they won a series of huge wars since the War of 1812, though it's still debated by historians even today, but the Battle of New Orleans and Ft. McHenry standing firm against the British had played a key role in developing that specific idea.

In this Alternate Reality with the US losing the Battle of New Orleans, and Ft. McHenry falling to the Brits (and allowing the Brits to sack DC early), this idea of "Strong American Patriotism" may not be created, or at least not be as strong, and because Ft. McHenry fell to the Brits, Francis Scott Key doesn't write "The Star-Spangled Banner".

A British victory in the War of 1812 would also have an effect on American Politics, because Andrew Jackson played a huge role in America's victory in the battle of New Orleans in our reality, this made him popular with not just the Politicians, but to the masses as well, it was "the" reason why he became President, and thus he signed the "Indian Removal Act" which meant the Native Americans had to "get out".

In this alternate reality with the Battle of New Orleans going south for the Americans, Andrew Jackson doesn't become President (since he would be known as the man who lost New Orleans). Though, it's difficult to say if there would be no "Indian Removal Act" and no "Trail of Tears". That's because it wasn't Andrew Jackson who thought that it was America's destiny to assert it's control "From Sea to Shining Sea", with Manifest Destiny ruling the minds of the masses in the 19th century, it's still possible for another man who becomes President to do something very similar to what Jackson did in our reality.

A British victory would also see the Federalist Party (the pre-cursor to the modern Democratic Party) last a bit longer, at most a decade or so.

Okay, time to bring out the US Flags, and US Flag Shirts, and US Flag hats. It's time for the second scenario.

## Scenario #2: American Victory

Let's say in this alternate scenario, the Brits really don't care for Canada even after US troops invade the colony and taking Toronto. This allows US forces to go further and take Montreal perhaps even go all the way to the east passed the St. Lawrence River and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, and the war ends early with the US declaring victory.

But, sometimes a blessing can really be a curse, in this alternate reality, Canada wouldn't be such a nice prize for the Americans as Canada would be a huge thorn on America's side for decades after the war.

This thorn would be in the form of rebellions that don't wish to assimilate themselves to the American lifestyle or British loyalists who want to push the Americans out. This would be especially in the southern regions in Canada (like in Ontario and Quebec).

By the mid 19th century in this alternate reality, the Canadians will eventually give in to the style of the US, and thus the US would have taken most if not all of Canada with some regions like the Yukon and Northwest Territories being annexed later on.

The US taking Canada would also change American History dramatically. For one thing, the United States will become the largest country in the world in terms of land mass, even eclipsing the size of modern Russia. This would also have an impact on US States and not just what state joins the union, but how some states would be drawn on the map. Maine is the prime example, in our reality there was the "Pork & Beans War" which was about Maine's northern border and because that war also ended in a draw, Maine's border with Canada was decided and thus drew up its shape we know today. In this alternate reality, Maine would have the American drawn borders.

What about Canada, what would become States? Well, the southern regions of Ontario and Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia would be the first regions in this American Canada to become US States, and when the US continues its adventure westward, it's also possible that Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta would also become states later on, but there may be a huge state called "Cascadia" which would consist of the modern US states of Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian Province of British Columbia since that America won the War of 1812 in this alternate reality, this region wasn't jointly occupied by the Americans and the Brits, and it'll be the largest state in the Union, that is until Alaska becomes a state. Though, it's difficult to say if Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut would become states (if they exist at all).

These alternate states would also have an effect on the balance of power in congress as slavery would still be a big issue, so to try to keep this "balance of power" the south would also propose new states of their own. But there's one thing that you must keep in mind that in our reality, the number of free states would eventually overwhelm the number of slave states in the union, in this alternate reality this would happen sooner with the "Canadian States" joining on the side of the free states. It's also possible that these "Canadian States" joining the union would actually prevent the American Civil War with the south just throwing up the white flag and end slavery.

I think I should end this before I take it too far from the point of divergence since it gets fuzzy for too long. Just keep in mind that these are 2 possible scenarios (each with equal chances)

But one thing's for sure, if the War of 1812 were to end with a clear winner, this would create relationship scars on both the US and Britain for generations to come, and it'll be a long time before things are patched up.

That's all for this page. What do you think would happen if the War of 1812 ended decisively? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.