Why isn't the war of 1812 taught in schools?

Answer 1

There are a great many things not taught in schools. The War of 1812 was not really a pivotal event in American history. Basically nothing changed because of it. Even the Order in Council that authorized the Royal Navy to impress sailors of British birth into the King's service on the high seas (regardless of their protestations of "naturalized" citizenship of some other nation) had been revoked, about the time the US was declaring war. But with the slow communications of the day word of the declaration of war and of the revocation of the offending Order passed each other in mid-ocean. The war revealed the foolishness of Thomas Jefferson and his protege Madison in military matters, and we don't want little schoolchildren mulling that over.

The one unquestionable result of the war was to make Andrew Jackson a national hero, but the most highly regarded president of the 19th century is in disfavor today because of his Indian Removal policy when he was president, so we don't want to call attention to him either. We prefer elementary pupils to believe secession was an evil idea invented by the Confederates in an inhumane and greedy quest to help their rich neighbors hold on to their slaves, so we don't want to dwell on the Hartford Convention, or the other treasonable actions of New Englanders, without whose trade the British could not have maintained their army and navy in North America. The whole war made several of the Founders look silly, and America to seem a nation of blunderers, who were lucky Napoleon was keeping the British busy. Best just to skip by all that as rapidly as can be done.