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> The Americans also captured York (now Toronto) and burned several government buildings there, an act the British reciprocated the following year (1814) in Was
by diego_moita 7y ago
> The Americans also captured York (now Toronto) and burned several government buildings there, an act the British reciprocated the following year (1814) in Washington, D.C.
The Canadian version sounds better: "Yeah! We burned down the White House!".
- grecy 7y agoIt's amazing how many Americas have no clue the White House was burned down by an invading army. Interesting what the US history books choose to leave out.
- jowday 7y agoWasn't left out of the history books I read.
- giancarlostoro 7y agoDid they? I remember studying about that in Elementary school. Maybe most people forget history from Elementary school I suppose? We went over the Civil War and the World Wars for quite a while in Elementary school.
- throwaway3627 7y agoWe also studied the War of 1812. It was a crushing, symbolic defeat in battle for the fledgling nation, although it didn't make much difference in total.
- henntipular 7y agoLots of interesting battles too. I live in the corridor between Detroit and Toronto. Battles all up and down those lakes
- braythwayt 7y agoContrary to popular legend in Canada, the White House was not painted white in the aftermath of the fire. But it’s amazing how much was destroyed, including the entire Library of Congress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington
- lambdasquirrel 7y agoThe history books I read in school didn't leave it out. But they did leave out the impetus (i.e. American troops burning down civilian buildings in Canada).
- throwaway3627 7y agoIt is because they aren't subscribed to The History Guy on YT. ;)
- craftyguy 7y agoI learned about this while in school in the southern US. I doubt it's a case of 'US history books choos[ing] to leave out' and more a case of US students failing to recall details that have little/no impact on current events (unless you confuse rhetoric with current events, I guess)