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rfmcdonaldThis morning's photo post about Fort York, and tangentially the War of 1812 and the wider theme of Anglo-American relations, made me think about the different ways relations between the United States and the British Empire have been depicted in alternative history.
Sometimes scenarios are imagined in which the Thirteen Colonies never break away from the Empire, producing a range of results as variable as these colonies becoming the powerhouses of a superpower tranatlantic commonwealth to North America becoming a restive continent-sized Ireland. Other times, scenarios are imagined where the British Empire and the United States end up becoming committed enemies, the established power and the rising one fighting over borders and spheres of influence, with or without allies. I think it might be relatively rare that the two polities are shown as having a peaceful relationship from the start. Perhaps it's because peace isn't as interesting?
What I find fascinating about the War of 1812 is that it represents a point at which Anglo-American relations could have tipped into one pattern or the other. Had there been more adroit diplomats in both countries, the war could have been avoided altogether, and Anglo-American relations would have been much warmer earlier. Had one side or both pushed more, we could have had different boundaries. Had the war started earlier and lasted longer, been more a North American theatre of the Napoleonic Wars, the long-term consequences would be incalculable. The Toronto I live in and love certainly wouldn't be the same city, whether under American jurisdiction or alternatively as part of a polity extending even deeper into the Midwest or as something else entirely. Relatively minor changes could have ballooned into huge things.
(I suppose this, this demonstration of the butterfly effect writ large, is why I like alternate history so much. Small things matter, have import. What greater reassurance can anyone have than this?)
Sometimes scenarios are imagined in which the Thirteen Colonies never break away from the Empire, producing a range of results as variable as these colonies becoming the powerhouses of a superpower tranatlantic commonwealth to North America becoming a restive continent-sized Ireland. Other times, scenarios are imagined where the British Empire and the United States end up becoming committed enemies, the established power and the rising one fighting over borders and spheres of influence, with or without allies. I think it might be relatively rare that the two polities are shown as having a peaceful relationship from the start. Perhaps it's because peace isn't as interesting?
What I find fascinating about the War of 1812 is that it represents a point at which Anglo-American relations could have tipped into one pattern or the other. Had there been more adroit diplomats in both countries, the war could have been avoided altogether, and Anglo-American relations would have been much warmer earlier. Had one side or both pushed more, we could have had different boundaries. Had the war started earlier and lasted longer, been more a North American theatre of the Napoleonic Wars, the long-term consequences would be incalculable. The Toronto I live in and love certainly wouldn't be the same city, whether under American jurisdiction or alternatively as part of a polity extending even deeper into the Midwest or as something else entirely. Relatively minor changes could have ballooned into huge things.
(I suppose this, this demonstration of the butterfly effect writ large, is why I like alternate history so much. Small things matter, have import. What greater reassurance can anyone have than this?)
