On June 18, 1812, the Congress of the United States  declared war on Great Britain. The war gave America a few new heroes - Andrew Jackson and Dolly Madison, to name just two - a poem that would become our national anthem, and a settled border with Canada. 

In Canada, the federal government committed $28 million to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This side of the border, there may be some local and state-sponsored events, and PBS has produced a documentary, but no national commemorations, as far as I know.

Historians have been busy, though. A report from the CBC says there have been 113 books related to the war published this year alone. And there are a number of websites dedicated to it. One you might want to check out is history.com's (Click HERE). For the view from the Canadian line, check warof1812.ca (Click HERE).  And for an interesting article from the BBC about why the war still matters, click HERE.

By the way, the title of this blog post is the slogan for Toronto's bicentennial committee.

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