Originally posted by reh321 I am fairly sure three things are true
(1) The Battle of New Orleans built U.S. confidence at the beginning of the 19th century.
(2) The Battle of New Orleans made Jean Lafitte even more of a local hero, even though the federal government chased him out of the country.
{3) The Battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson a national hero even though he chased Davy Crockett out of their shared home state of Tennessee {which is how Crockett ended up at the Alamo to rally the troops there}
1. Then why didn't the war of 1812 destroy confidence? Losing a war to a puny little country with 220 regulars, 300 reserves and 800 natives for an army. 1. is at best a historical speculation.
2. Who?
3. Small details in the internal politics of at the time a pretty insignificant nation.
I'm not saying I believe any of this, I've heard it both ways... but if one guy says the battle is significant, opposing points of view need to be explored.
That being said, The Canadians are just as stubborn and insisted that their point of view is the correct one as the Americans are that theirs is. If the vehemence expressed when people put forth their positions is any indication, I'd say both points of view are about equal, with the Canadian position involving less speculation.