To eliminate the Indian menace, Americans reasoned, they needed to remove its foreign support, and they saw the British Canadian province of Ontario as a pistol pointing at the United States. Conquest of Canada would accomplish a twofold purpose: it would eliminate British influence among the Indians and open a new empire for land-hungry Americans. Canada was also one place where the British, in case of war, were vulnerable to an American attack. Madison and others acted on the mistaken assumption that many Canadians were eager to be liberated from British control. That there were nearly 8 million Americans in 1812 and only 300,000 Canadians led many bellicose Americans to believe the conquest of Canada would be quick and easy. New York alone had a million inhabitants compared to just 75,000 in neighboring Upper Canada. Thomas Jefferson had told President Madison that the American “acquisition of Canada” was simply a “matter of marching” north with a military force.
