Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 7:58 AM Subject: History On this day in 1784, the United States (the 13 original colonies of U.K.) ratified a peace treaty with England, ending the American Revolutionary War. The United States remained at peace with our homeland until 1812 when we beat them again and for good and have remained kissing cousins ever since ! Gordon Crooks

Canadians will tell you they "won" the War of 1812 when they whipped the behinds of invading Americans back across the border where the Yanks have had the good sense to remain ever since. The Brits will remind that they humiliated their former colonials by burning their new U.S. capitol to the ground, which surely seemed like a mighty big loss for the Americans at that time. Meanwhile Andrew Jackson seized the yellow-fever capital of New Orleans from the Brits, but that city has been a liability since Katrina. Fact is, unless one counts the Canadians --a decidedly odd concept, I concede--there was no "winner" of the War of 1812. All parties simply got tired of fighting and, as evidenced by the treaty that failed to address any of the fractious issues, nobody could remember why the fighting started in the first place. Everybody mostly lost as seems to be the main lesson of war. America's finest gain from the War of 1812 was "The Star Spangled Banner." So let's not resurrect the rivalries now with prejudicial claims. Besides, who cares about the War of 1812? Barb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon Crooks" <gordoncrooks@verizon.net> To: <PAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 5:22 AM Subject: [PAFRANKL] Fw: History Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 7:58 AM Subject: History On this day in 1784, the United States (the 13 original colonies of U.K.) ratified a peace treaty with England, ending the American Revolutionary War. The United States remained at peace with our homeland until 1812 when we beat them again and for good and have remained kissing cousins ever since ! Gordon Crooks