Talk:Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda

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The article states "Bermudian labour proved scarce, and Bermudian attitudes to manual labour were such that the Admiralty soon resorted to using convicts, shipped from Britain and Ireland, to carry out most of the original phase of building at the base". An examination of the Dockyard musters and correspondence suggests that no convicts were brought to Bermuda for the construction works before 1823.

Bermudian labour was scarce because the Bermudian slaves concerned were self-hiring, working autonomously, finding their subsistence out of their earnings and sending remittances back to their masters - a demand for road-building in the islands led to the self-hiring slaves demanding higher wages than the dockyard superintendent was prepared to pay.

The first non-Bermudian labour were men taken from two captured prize of war under the provisions of section 7 of the 1807 Slave Trade Act and entered illicitly in the musters as 'King's Slaves'.

Suggested amendment: Bermudian enslaved labour proved increasingly expensive, and Bermudian attitudes to manual labour were such that the Admiralty later resorted to using convicts, shipped from Britain and Ireland, to carry out most of the original phase of building at the base. In the short term, the first non-Bermudian labour were men taken from two captured prize of war under the provisions of section 7 of the 1807 Slave Trade Act and entered illicitly in the musters as 'King's Slaves'.

Barsle 13:48, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

This page conflicts with the War of 1812 page

The statement "The real reasons for the American declaration of war had more to do with a desire to seize Canada" conflicts directly with the page on the War of 1812 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812) under the section "Question of United States expansionism":

Before 1940, some historians held that United States expansionism into Canada was also a reason for the war, but the theory lost supporters. The territory in question (western Ontario), had already been largely settled by Americans, and they remained mostly neutral during the war.[24] Some Canadian historians propounded the notion in the early 20th century, and it survives among most Canadians.[7] This view was also shared by members of the British Parliament at the time. [25]

Madison and his advisers believed that conquest of Canada would be easy and that economic coercion would force the British to come to terms by cutting off the food supply for their West Indies colonies. Furthermore, possession of Canada would be a valuable bargaining chip. Frontiersmen demanded the seizure of Canada not because they wanted the land, but because the British were thought to be arming the Indians and thereby blocking settlement of the West.[26] As Horsman concluded, "The idea of conquering Canada had been present since at least 1807 as a means of forcing England to change her policy at sea. The conquest of Canada was primarily a means of waging war, not a reason for starting it."[27] Hickey flatly stated, "The desire to annex Canada did not bring on the war."[28] Brown (1964) concluded, "The purpose of the Canadian expedition was to serve negotiation, not to annex Canada."[29] Burt, a leading Canadian scholar, agreed completely, noting that Foster—the British minister to Washington—also rejected the argument that annexation of Canada was a war goal.[30]

63.163.107.100 (talk) 21:42, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Information on the White Hose conflicts with the White House wiki page

The claim that:

The US Presidential Mansion was so badly charred by the flames that it has been necessary, since, to whitewash it.

Conflicts with the White House page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#Early_use.2C_the_1814_fire.2C_and_rebuilding):

Only the exterior walls remained, and they had to be torn down and mostly reconstructed due to weakening from the fire and subsequent exposure to the elements, except for portions of the south wall.

63.163.107.100 (talk) 22:15, 15 September 2009 (UTC)