Nova Scotians and visitors can explore what was at stake during the War of 1812, and how the event profoundly affected North American history.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is presenting 1812, a travelling exhibition produced by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa that explores the war through the perspectives of Canadians, First Peoples, Americans, and the British.
The exhibition will be open from July 22 to Oct. 13.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic developed a companion exhibit, Prize and Prejudice: Nova Scotia’s War of 1812, that explores the cultural effects and legacies of the conflict on the colony of Nova Scotia, which was then part of British North America. A key legacy is the founding of African Nova Scotian communities by Black Refugees that escaped to freedom following the war. Two letters written by Black Refugees will be publicly displayed for the first time.
“It is important for Nova Scotians to understand the impact the War of 1812 had on Canadian history and what the country looks like today,” said Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Tony Ince. “I thank the Canadian War Museum and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for working together to tell stories that go far beyond what people have learned before, and for shedding light on such a pivotal time for the province.”
For Canadians, the War of 1812 was a successful fight for survival against American invasions. For Americans, the war was a successful defence against the British Empire, one that forced Britain to respect American sovereignty and power. For the British, the conflict was a successful but almost irrelevant sideshow, scarcely remembered today, set against the far greater, generation-long war against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. For Native Americans, the war was a desperate fight for freedom and independence as they struggled to defend their homelands, and its conclusion was a catastrophic defeat.
“This exhibition offers a nuanced, thought-provoking portrait of an event that helped shape Canada as a nation,” said Mark O’Neill, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, which operates the Canadian War Museum.
In addition, the Museum of Natural History will be displaying A Changing Landscape: Nova Scotia’s War of 1812, which examines daily life from various viewpoints including those of Nova Scotian women, Mi’kmaq, and soldiers in the Nova Scotia Fencibles and other military units.
The exhibition, 1812, is supported by national presenting sponsor TD Bank Group and national supporting sponsor Ancestry.ca.
For more information about the exhibition, go to http://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/ . Photos are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/novascotiamuseum/sets/72157645768106476/ .
Source: Release
