RE: [Marxism] On the 1812 war

["Mark Lause" <MLause@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect wrote, "Who knows. The world would probably be better off if
the Crown had suppressed the revolt of 1776. Compared to the USA, Canada
looks positively benign."

This is an excellent question that has periodically preoccupied me from time
to time.

In the end, though, there is little reason to think that one single
English-speaking global superpower in the 19th century would have permitted
the development of any of these benign features in its component parts.  An
intact Empire would not have encouraged the critical spirit implicit in
British abolitionism.  Would America have been able to dislodge slavery as
it did--or create a capitalist society somewhat constrained by its ideology
of democracy and mobility--with the old order by that kind of imperial
authority.  And Canada certainly wouldn't be the same without the elbow room
enjoyed partly because of American Independence, the proximity of the US to
the Patriots' rebellion of 1837, or the impact of the Civil War.

After all, the author of the Canadian national anthem was a veteran of the
Union Army.

ML






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