Weapons supplied to Indigenous communities are presented mainly as merchant trade for furs, while their effect on American security remains part of the dispute. Quebecois inhabitants, Loyalist refugees, and newer British settlers were unlikely to welcome an American invasion. Those demographics undermined the belief that an advance into Canada would trigger a friendly uprising. Britain's preoccupation with Napoleon still made the moment appear favorable to American expansionists. The war grew from genuine disputes, domestic politics, strategic misreading, and opportunism rather than one tidy cause.
Chapter · 21:06-29:21
Indigenous trade, Canada, and the war's competing motives
British arms-for-furs commerce, mistaken expectations of Canadian support, and expansionist calculations all fed the decision for war.