Lot 551
Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy (1846–1939)
Note:
Considered a war that reinforced both Canadian nationalism and American patriotism, the war of 1812 laid the foundation for the future of North American relations. Initially sparked by the bitter and isolating trade embargos imposed on the United States by both Britain and France; a series of further trade sanctions, British maltreatment of American naval soldiers, and increased First Nations resistance to frontier settlement aggravated and emboldened the United States to declare war against Great Britain in 1812. Beginning their offensive in Upper Canada, the United States entered the war decidedly unprepared for the strength of British resistance.
British Major General, Sir Isaac Brock, a shrewd military strategist, had been reinforcing fortifications and militia and gaining alliances with the First Nation populations for the previous five years in anticipation of a conflict between the newly independent neighbour to the south.
The narrative of friendship between Brock and the charismatic yet fearsome Shawnee chief Tecumseh, leader of the First Nations Confederacy, seen in the pair of busts crafted by the renowned sculptor Hamilton McCarthy, has been a tenet of early Canadian history. Despite their partnership, Tecumseh’s singular priority was to unite all First Nations in order to preserve the land and culture of his people; allying with the British “red coats” gave strength and numbers to his cause. With Tecumseh’s death, the fire that drove indigenous resistance to encroaching American settlement went out, and Tecumseh’s dream of a united confederacy dissolved.