Take a look at your history book or the encyclopedia or even on the web and you will find they are two entirely different wars. The Revolutionary War was the war fought to free us from British rule and brought about our country--United States of America. We celebrate July 4 as it it represents the completion of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Our Constitution was waritten some years after this and it has a very interesting history. The War of 1812 was a second war--mainly a naval war--with England and involved the United States and England/Great Britain. It lasted two years or thereabouts and we received the words for our national anthem in this war. I'm not giving the total answer to any of this, for it will do you good to research for yourself and then it will be more meaningful. I supose that's the school teacher, historian and genealogist showing itself in me. Any time you look for your ancestors, it is a MUST to know the history of the era, no matter where in the world it might be. Jennie Vertrees

In actual fact we Canadians do consider it to be a continuation of the Revolutionary War. For most of people in Canada at that time the Revolution was still very much on their minds (It had been only been about 20 years since the Revolution ended).. The French Canadians, the Natives and the Loyalists remember that earlier war with very bitter memories. Strangely however about 60% of the population of Ontario were "Americans" in 1812 and were not "Loyalists, Native or French Canadian" which led to a lot of understandable paranoia. Many people on both sides of the border still literally carried the scars that the Revolution had caused and tempers flared. Think of any current Ethnic Cleansing War in the world and you get an idea of how strong feelings still ran - the Revolutionary War was not a gentlemanly disagreement. The result was a bloodbath that took many lives. Lynching and mass destruction were commonplace. Here in my town ( Hamilton Ontario) we hung a number of suspected traitors as well as fighting a number of brutal battles in the area. Although the battles consisted of only small numbers of men compared to European wars, casualties were often as bad as any seen in the Napoleonic wars or the U.S. Civil War. The War of 1812 was a bitter conflict on sea as well at land. Despite the successes of Old Ironsides.The U.S. lost almost every ship it owned during the war- Only the Great Lakes were under U.S. control. On land it turned into a stalemate. The Americans although having a massive military superiority over the very small British garrison and tiny Canadian militia failed at almost every turn. The U.S. did not gain any land as a result. By the end of the war the Canadians themselves had recaptured all of the land lost and had burned Washington as well. (The burning of Washington was almost entirely an Canadian operation, the British military having little to do with it.-Of course that little secret has always been whitewashed over.) The British "think" they won the war because the Americans sued for peace. To the British it was always just a minor squabble over a useless piece of land (The Colonies). The British had their hands full fighting off all of the combined forces of Europe under Napoleon and didn't see the need for sending troops until 1814 when Napoleon was deposed for the first time. The Duke of Wellington was supposed to go to Canada but he suggested a peace treaty was more useful than a continued war that had no real purpose in the long run. The Americans "think" they won the war because they won the battle of New Orleans. (That was actually fought after the peace treaty was agreed to) The British however did capture Fort Boyer after that battle. We Canadians "Know" we won the war because we are still here almost 200 years later. My name is Nelson . And I am CANADIAN!!!! +(:-))))))