Richard Jensen The War of 1812 Wikipedia Wikimania Conference

Richard Jensen “The War of 1812@Wikipedia” Wikimania Conference Washington July 13, 2012 • This Powerpoint is online at http: //tinyurl. com/richardjensen 2012 a • This youtube video is online at http: //tinyurl. com/richardjensen 2012 1

The War of 1812 @Wikipedia Richard Jensen rjensen@uic. edu Montana State University Wikimania Washington July 13, 2012 2

What does Wikipedia cover? 3

Most popular topics? web searches by K-12 students in U. S. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Games Dogs Animals Civil War George Washington Holocaust Abraham Lincoln Multiplication Math games Weather Frogs Fractions Planets Sharks source: "What Do 'Games, ' 'George Washington' and 'Sharks' Have in Common? They Can All Be Found on New Rankings of the Most Frequently Searched Keywords by K-12 Students" T H E Journal Volume: 35. Issue: 6. 2008. p. 1 4

Wikipedia usage • Who uses it? (everybody, especially students) • When: weekdays in school year • Average time on Wikipedia (all articles) – 4. 5 minutes • Users want summary – Most just browse the opening lead • Advanced users – they want main text, graphics, footnotes & bibliography 5

“History of Canada”: 33, 000 6

Audience for articles: 2008 -2012 7

“American Revolution: 138, 000 8

“American Civil War: 331, 000 9

“World War II: 670, 000 10

War of 1812: 390, 000 hits in June 2012 versus 162, 000 in June 2011 11

Popularity of “War of 1812” among all articles in military history hits per month----per day

Major articles: mostly written 2006 -7 WWII edit history

War of 1812 edit history

1812 article • 14, 000 words • 4 maps; 16 illustrations • 169 notes • short bibliography • 619 links to Wiki articles on people , units & battles & other language Wikis • 7000 articles linked to it 15

Weak on maps N= only 4 16

Contents • • • Contents [hide] 1 Reasons for the war – 1. 1 Trade with France – 1. 2 Impressment – 1. 3 British support for Indian raids – 1. 4 American expansionism – 1. 5 US political conflict 2 Declaration of war 3 Course of the war 4 Theatres of war – 4. 1 Atlantic theatre • • • – • • 4. 2. 1 Invasions of Upper and Lower Canada, 1812 4. 2. 2 American Northwest, 1813 4. 2. 3 Niagara frontier, 1813 4. 2. 4 St. Lawrence and Lower Canada, 1813 4. 2. 5 Niagara and Plattsburgh Campaigns, 1814 4. 2. 6 American West, 1813– 14 4. 3 Southern theatre • • 4. 3. 1 Creek War 4. 3. 2 New Orleans 4. 3. 3 Alabama 4. 3. 4 Postwar fighting 5 The Treaty of Ghent – 5. 1 Factors leading to the peace negotiations – 5. 2 Negotiations and peace 6 Losses and compensation 7 Memory and historiography – 7. 1 Popular views – 7. 2 Canadian – 7. 3 American – 7. 4 Historians' views • • 4. 2 Great Lakes and Western Territories • • • – 4. 1. 1 Single-ship actions 4. 1. 2 Blockade 4. 1. 3 Atlantic coast 4. 1. 4 Maine 4. 1. 5 Chesapeake campaign and "The Star-Spangled Banner" • • • 7. 4. 1 Indians as losers 8 Long-term consequences – 8. 1 United States – 8. 2 British North America (Canada) – 8. 3 Indigenous nations – 8. 4 Bermuda – 8. 5 Britain 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

Start: Dec 200 --with 2000 words copied from Encyclopedia Britannica 1910 1 18

Recent revisions 19

Who edits Wikipedia? 40% are students; 37% have MA or Ph. D 20

Who edited “War of 1812”? 2403 different people made 9796 edits since 2001 24% minor; 37% anon 1380 people made 2 or more; 21

#2 Dabbler 10, 296 edits in 6. 5 years • Interests: Royal Navy 1775 -1816, • • • 236 - Isle of Man 178 - War of 1812 145 - Rudyard Kipling 142 - Trampoline 122 - Oscar Wilde 115 - Battle of Trafalgar 114 - Mount St. Helens 112 - Horatio Nelson, 1 st Viscount Nelson 100 - Trampolining 22

#3 Narson = 5282 edits esp 2007 -8 • • his major edits: 123 - War of 1812 70 - USS Liberty incident 59 - East India Company 58 - Lewis Hamilton 48 - Falklands War 44 - Fernando Alonso 35 - 2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel 33 - Kimi Räikkönen 30 - Max Mosley 30 - Falkland Islands 28 - United States Marine Corps • “I retired from Wikipedia …due to disenchantment with the dispute Resolution process …. It was more and more difficult to deal with the growing antipathy to expert contributors, including outright hostility from administrators to cover up their own errors. “ (7/2012) 23 • •

#4 Tirronan 4100 edits in 6 years now retired • Interests: Napoleonic wars • • • 169 - Battle of Borodino 148 - Battle of Waterloo 131 - War of 1812 86 - French invasion of Russia 71 - Battle of Jutland 62 - Zumwalt class destroyer 61 - Hundred Days 55 - Battle of New Orleans 40 - Battle of Leipzig 37 - T-34 31 - Christianity and violence 24

Active contributors #5 Driftwoodzebulin 2400 edits in 6 years • • • 199 - Superpower 110 - Space exploration 106 - War of 1812 91 - Timeline of space exploration 68 - Space Race 31 - North American Free Trade Agreement 25

Debating the “War of 1812” article on its Talk Page • N=627 people made • 3363 comments – 15 people made half of them • total 208, 000 words • • • Edits ? User first edit last edit 347 Deathlibrarian 2006 -05 -19 2012 -01 -21 308 Tirronan 2007 -11 -04 2012 -03 -19 190 Rjensen 2006 -11 -24 2012 -04 -18 133 Driftwoodzebulin 2006 -11 -13 2009 -11 -19 119 Shakescene 2008 -10 -02 2012 -06 -30 102 Narson 2007 -06 -08 2012 -04 -16 26

Who Won the War? • Canadian historian Desmond Morton: “Who won and who lost are always vague questions. Both sides tell their kiddies that they won it. And both sides are probably telling some of the truth, which is unusual when you have official history. ” 27

James Tagg, “And we Burned Down the White House, Too’: American History, Canadian Undergraduates, and Nationalism” The History Teacher (May 2004) 28

Who won? What Canadians say • In a 2009 poll of Canadians: – 37% said the war was a Canadian victory, – 9% said the U. S. won – 15% called it a draw • 39%—mainly younger people , knew too little to comment. – Half the Ontarians said Canada won, – and only 8% in Quebec said the U. S. won. • Randy Boswell, "Who won War of 1812 baffles poll respondents, " Canwest News Service Dec 9, 2009 29

War of 1812 Monument, Toronto 2008 by Douglas Coupland of Vancouver Toy soldiers to suggest governments used men like disposable toys--war as child’s game without heroism or patriotism 30

Wikipedians debate who won the war Wikipedia: Mediation Cabal/Cases/2009 -11 -11/War of 1812 reached compromise after 13 drafts in two months; involved very active military historians from US, Canada, Australia 31

Talk: War of 1812/Who Won? • During the 19 th century the popular image of the war in the US was of an American victory, and in Canada, of a Canadian victory. Each young country saw her self-perceived victory as an important foundation of her growing nationhood. The British…paid little attention. • By the 21 st century it was a forgotten war in the U. S. , Britain and Quebec, although still remembered in the rest of Canada, especially Ontario. 32

Wikipedia: All historians agree • Ending the war with neither side gaining or losing territory allowed for the peaceful settlement of boundary disputes and for the opening of a permanent era of good will and friendly relations between the U. S. and Canada. 33

Wikipedia: All historians agree • The native Indians were the war's clear losers, losing land, power and any hope of keeping their semi-autonomous status. • Versus the popular Canadian view that totally excludes the First Nations of 1812—and thus rejects multiculturalism 34

Wikipedia: Majority of historians • the war ended in stalemate…militarily inconclusive. Neither side wanted to continue fighting since the main causes had disappeared and since there were no large lost territories for one side or the other to reclaim. • With two centuries of peaceful and mutuallybeneficial intercourse between the U. S. , Britain and Canada, these historians often conclude that all three nations were the "real winners" 35

Wikipedia: Minority #1 • British victory and an American defeat. … British achieved their military objectives in 1812 (by stopping the repeated American invasions of Canada) and that Canada retained her independence of the United States. 36

Wikipedia: Minority #2 • The British won by losing no territories and achieving their great war goal, the total defeat of Napoleon. • The U. S. won by – (1) securing her honour and successfully resisting a powerful empire once again, thus winning a "second war of independence" – (2) ending the threat of Indian raids and the British plan for a semi-independent Indian sanctuary—thereby opening an unimpeded path for the United States' westward expansion – (3) stopping the Royal Navy from restricting American trade and impressing American sailors. 37

Strengths & weaknesses War of 1812 & Wikipedia military history in general 38

Strengths and weaknesses Origins Blockade Naval action Battles: contributors are military historians, including many Brits • Historiography • Memory • • • Little “new” military history Little social, economic or cultural history • Few women (Laura Secord, Dolly Madison) • Thin on Indians • British policies • Jumps around 39

Problems: illustrations and maps • Copyright issues: – All Wiki content must be completely free of restrictions to all users – including commercial – Limits fair use rights – Can use pre 1923 illustrations • No budget – All work by unpaid volunteers – No $$ to commission artwork • Totally “free” text = limited info to readers

Soldiers: weak coverage • • Uniforms (because no illustrations) Food, logistics Medical care Recruitment; links to home – Few letters home are used • Morale • Desertion

Good coverage • Links to articles on battles, people • Names, short biographies – Weak on using American DAB, ANB; Canadian Dict. Of Bio; British DNB • Ranks, promotions • Ships • Weapons – But poor on illustrations

Scholarship • Historiography: – ok after intense debate on talk page • Bibliography – Scholarly books – OK coverage; few annotations – Scholarly journals; N =1400 articles ignored; • No access? Unaware of JSTOR? ? • Popular journals also missing – Few first person accounts • Wiki discourages use of Primary Sources – Too much use of online 2012 newspapers

All military history articles weak on • Social history – Women, race Indians, demography • Cultural history – Symbolic meanings and goals

Weakness: Home front • Ignore society • Economy – Eg rise of factories in response to blockade – National finance • Politics, elections • Popular mood; demand to annex Canada? • Resistance to war, esp Northeast

credibility • Anyone can edit – Vandalism, Kilroy – NPOV “neutral point of view” – Errors & correction – 600+ editors on lookout for dubious changes • No author voice; credibility? – Repetition with puzzling variation – RS rule: “reliable source” only – OR rule: no original research 46

Wikiproject: “Military history” • 700 active editors • Need limited improvement 12, 810 articles in total • Need significant improvement 51, 192 articles in total • Wiki. Project History largely inactive since 2008 47

Conclusions • Wikipedia is VERY popular – 13, 000 people a day look at “War of 1812” • 2, 400 people edited since 2001 • Now 14, 000 words main text – 169 footnotes – Accuracy is good; errors quickly fixed – Checked daily by 651 people • Old fashioned, amateur, military • Disputes handled well 48

Questions? 49