The notion that the United States had to desperately vie to maintain its independence flies in the face of a widespread and entrenched sense of American exceptionalism-the idea that the United States is a unique and superior nation-the roots of which lay in the American Revolution. Most Americans have ignored the bicentennial of the War itself, and will not commemorate its end either, and it is worth asking why. Creating the United States was a difficult and drawn-out affair, much more so than modern political pundits would have us believe, and the War of 1812 and the Treaty of Ghent were part of that tense process. The inconclusive end to the War of 1812-for every party but Native Americans, who were left out of the treaty negotiations, and then left to suffer at the hands of a newly emboldened United States-the very thing that makes it appear forgettable actually points to its greatest significance. Indeed, in the War of 1812, the United States sought to claim rights as a nation that it nominally achieved in the Revolution. On its face, the terms of the treaty seem simply to reiterate the terms of the 1783 treaty which ended the American Revolution. Two-hundred years ago this Christmas eve, American and British officials signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. Signing of the Treaty of Ghent, 1814 where the Admiral of the Royal Navy James Gambier is shaking hands with the U.S.
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