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→The myth of land hunger
===The myth of land hunger===
===The myth of land hunger===
The eminent historians of the war -- Bradford Perkins, Reginald Horsman, Donald R. Hickey, and J. C. A. Stagg -- agree that maritime issues far outweighed frontier and land issues in 1812. Yet Canadians will often argue that the war was motivated by the an American desire to annex their country.
The Americans did not seek to permanently take over Canada, but wanted to seize western Ontario as a bargaining chip. The main British war goal was to defeat France and therefore stop neutrals like the U.S. from helping France. Britain also wanted to assert its dominance of the seas. A secondary British goal was the creation of a "neutral" Indian state in the area of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, that would be "guided" (or controlled) by Britain and serve to block American expansion.<ref>Canadian opinion was not consulted, but the people favored the British and feared the Americans because they opposed monarchy and Catholicism. Relatively few Canadians volunteered to fight the Americans; the fighting was done by British regulars and their Indian allies.</ref>
The Americans did not seek to permanently take over Canada, but wanted to seize western Ontario as a bargaining chip. The main British war goal was to defeat France and therefore stop neutrals like the U.S. from helping France. Britain also wanted to assert its dominance of the seas. A secondary British goal was the creation of a "neutral" Indian state in the area of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, that would be "guided" (or controlled) by Britain and serve to block American expansion.<ref>Canadian opinion was not consulted, but the people favored the British and feared the Americans because they opposed monarchy and Catholicism. Relatively few Canadians volunteered to fight the Americans; the fighting was done by British regulars and their Indian allies.</ref>