I want your opinions. The people of the world say it was the British Empire. Many historians and myself say that it was a stalemate or even that they both lost when the Treaty of Ghent was signed. My friend says that the US won.

Reasoning behind all stances:

The British won:
1) America's invasion was beaten back bad and failed.
2) The British Empire's only goal in the war was to stop the invasion, and they did.
3) Canadians: "We burned down the White House, their capital! Of course we won."

America won:
1) US merchant ships were being commandeered by Britain to force them into their Royal Navy. That's why the US invaded Canada, and they stopped. They also kept the US from trade in Europe.
2) Britain gave back any taken land. The winning party wouldn't do that.
3) Americans: "Washington was abandoned and left undefended when it was burned down. And I recall a city called 'York.'"

T̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ Nobody Won:
1) The British stopped commandeering ships because Napoleon was beaten, not because the US was tough sh*t.
2) America's invasion was stopped, but so was the British Empire's, and equally as bad.
3) At the end of it all, it reverted back to the way it was before the war; the "status quo Antebellum." Literally nothing was accomplished by the end of the war, aside from the Northwest Territory being left by Britain.


Thoughts?

America won by default.

At that time, it was a severe blow that Britain could not defeat a nation much, much less populated and weaker than it.

Thus even a stalemate was really an American victory.

Between only America and Britain? Stalemate.

The wider conflict? Britain won.

Yeah, just the god forsaken war itself, not the Napoleonic Wars.

Id say it was a stalemate.. Both sides lost more than gained and for what?

Nobody really won the war.
Britain backed out of the Northwest Territory, but it still held control over Canada.
America had the White House burned down.
I'd say it was a tie.

You don't ''win'' wars. You only stand to gain something at the cost of something else. We gained the Northwest territory at the cost of the white house and the lives of idk how many americans tbh because I don't know much about the casualty figures of any war except the civil war but I'm sure a few hundred thousand americans died.

I would say the United States. The British were forced to leave the Ohio and other Western areas, allowing for American westward migration with less risk. Also, Battle of New Orleans was a very decisive US victory at the very end of the war.

If you are invaded and you beat them back. You won.

Edited 2/25/2016 21:54:06

The Battle of New Orleans, while impressive on General Jackson's part, happened after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, meaning it didn't actually equate to anything.

Edited 2/25/2016 23:02:30

America's invasion was stopped, but so was the British Empire's, and equally as bad.

America failed in getting Canada. The counter-invasion also failed, but that's secondary. America failed in its objects, so it lost the war (that's how I see it anyway, neither American nor British).