A History Teacher Reacts | The Pig War [Part 2/2] | Oversimplified

[Music] [Music] hey youtube i'm mr terry a high school history teacher welcome back to another history teacher reacts video all right we're here for part two or the second half of oversimplified's video on the pig war if you'd not see part one make sure you check that out but we're going to watch the second half here now it's been a lot of fun to hear about this border dispute between the united states and great britain now where we left off was a pig was just shot and it sounds like it's about to get pretty bad we'll see anyway the original video link is down below once again make sure you're supporting over simplified they're awesome and if you like oversimplified i've covered and reacted to basically all of their videos you can check those out my playlist too and with that let's go ahead and hop back into the video after taking a second to calm down he felt bad about murdering griffin's prized boar so he went to him and said hey man look i i kind of just killed your pig it was eating my potatoes again and i don't he's gonna lose it [Music] salutes for the pig you swine no no the swine is the one i killed i'm lyman [Music] griffin demanded lymon pay a hundred dollars for the loss of the pig an outrageous some at the time obviously lyman refused threatening to shoot any more animals that dared enter his property even threatening to shoot griffin himself when griffin complained to james douglas british officials went and confronted the pig killer again they insisted he pay up and if he didn't lymon claimed they threatened to arrest him and take him back to victoria british officials arresting an american on american soil and trying him under british law now that's controversial and it's a controversy that attracted not an american american general in charge of the department of oregon one william s harney this guy general harney had a reputation he's the kind of guy who invades mexico without borders wasting valuable resources embarrassing situation for everyone involved he's the kind of guy who has one of his own men arrested for writing the wrong header on a reporter he's the kind of guy who finds a dog digging off his yard and then chases it for a mile and a half just to give it a beating he hated superiors hated being told what to do one of those guys been court-martialed four times for disobeying orders contemporaries described him and and why is this guy still around an imbecile all matter and no mind an arrogant humbug and a laughingstock like i said general harney had a reputation he hated the british and was out for any opportunity to earn personal glory for himself by some accounts he even wanted to become president and so in july 1859 when he happened to visit san juan island and he learned of the plight of the americans living there the shooting of a pig and the british threat to arrest lyman cutler general harney went into scheme mode hey yo captain pickett yes sir listen carefully i need you to go pick up some flowers and bring them to my place later i've got a plan here i am sir what's the plan pick it you and i are going to start a war what do you mean sir okay listen up an american man shoots a worthless pig on san juan island and the british threatened to arrest him outrageous but we can use it we get the settlers there to send us a petition saying they need american troops for protection that's when you go with your men and occupy the island the british will find american troops on an island they consider theirs so offensive they won't hesitate to blow you to smithereens then it's war we bring in reinforcements and we fight back i'll write to washington dc letting them know what's happening but here's the kicker my letter will take six whole weeks to get there before the government even gets a chance to respond telling me i'm an idiot and ordering me to cease fire the island do you think how logistically how tough things were back then to do that sort of thing you know the the civil war by the way is going to start breaking out in about a year after this 1860 presidential elections about to happen um helped helped infrastructure with more railroads especially more telegraph lines but that stuff was not as prevalent out here in the northwest which is still you know somewhat organized unorganized territory um so yeah logistical things like communication during warfare i think we underestimate in the modern sense how that is and look how far away this is from the nation's capital as far as ways possible um so yeah that could be used to your advantage or your disadvantage it will be ours hell we could even invade vancouver island or british columbia it's foolproof wow very impressive sir but i gotta ask why well i'll level with you pick it historians still contest exactly what it is i'm trying to do here it's possible i'm trying to expand america's territory maybe i'm trying to play the hero so i can become president some elections next year but since i'm a slave-owning southerner i may be trying to create a diversion to help the south secede in the upcoming civil war but if there's one thing that almost everyone can agree on it's that an idiot see but hold on what you told me to bring flowers for because pickett they're pretty and i like them there are also historians who believe that harney and pickett had no secret plan at all and were not scheming masterminds but simply hot-headed buffoons genuinely outraged at the audacity of the british and trying to protect american citizens but the fact of the matter is pickett took the very controversial and extremely provocative act of landing american troops on disputed territory he set up his camp in a very that's a first right i mean that's a first year it's been settlers and things but like an official standing army there you know that can definitely be something that seems provocative position and directed a very provocative sign proclaiming that only american laws applied on the island it was almost like he was asking to be fired upon yeah yeah again maybe he was just an idiot official sent to the island to get rid of the unruly american settlers now saw that there were american troops he demanded they leave he was obviously told to go suck an egg when douglas found out he was enraged to him the american landing constituted an invasion harney sent a report back to the war department in dc justifying his actions with exaggerated claims of british villainy but he knew it would take six weeks to get there and another six weeks for the reply to come back for now the situation was entirely in the hands of local military and government officials and the ball was in the british court with the temperamental governor douglas and the powerful british navy respond to the american provocation with force were britain and america really about to go to war over the shooting of a pig well if one man were to have his way it's entirely possible they would james douglas had already had americans force him out of oregon they had threatened his position in victoria during the gold rush now they had invaded his island and he had had it it was time to turn to the royal navy you captain hornby go to the island and prevent any more americans from landing and take this magistrate with you to arrest captain pickett use force if necessary just don't do anything to start a war wait you want me to use force but not start a war no oh i'm sorry is that too much to yes it's like you can't have it both ways you're getting this kind of stuff it's like those kind of orders are just to try to protect those giving the orders that then if something bad happens they could say no that's not what i told them to do but then you also are telling him to do that because you just want to have your hands clean of that sort of thing princess when captain hornby got to the island and saw that the american force there was even larger than expected his concern grew he sent word back to douglas who in response ordered even more ships to the island and at this point the naval officers were like hey man let's talk they were concerned douglas's escalation was leading them to war and they convinced him it probably wasn't a terribly good idea to just go up to an american military captain with his armed men and say hey bucko you're under arrest please don't shoot me douglas gave in to prevent any hostilities he canceled all orders and told the navy for now to simply keep an eye on the americans he did send one more ship for good measure captain pickett now seeing the british ships with their guns aimed directly at his exposed camp said see jeff look at that we're about to get blown to bits all according to plan right hang on oh crap jeff we're about to get blown to bits run pickett hastily moved his camp from its very exposed position to another position which as it happened was also very exposed it probably won't surprise you to learn pickett came dead last in his graduating class nearby american and british officials began showing up to ask pikket what the heck he was even doing then a bunch of tourists showed up because a major war breaking out in their doorstep was the single most exciting thing to ever happen in any of their miserable frontiers is that crazy what you hear about you ever heard about those stories they can americans they have these with like the civil war and the and like revolutionary war where like there would be spectators go up on some hill or some roof and they would watch the war like what the heck i mean it was obviously a different time and it seemed like there's a lot of these unwritten rules about actually engaging in conflict and you fight the soldiers on soldiers and not the civilians but that just like blows my mind you imagine that happening in the modern day lives one charles griffin was particularly unhappy first his pig had been shot now his sheep pastures were being trampled by soldiers and tourists alike he complained to governor douglas who was still pretty upset about the whole thing douglas felt british honor itself was at stake so he decided that if american forces were allowed to be on the island well then by golly the british should be there too it would be i won't escalate it military occupation those always work well right the joint military occupations of places that works well this is new plan to land british troops on the island captain hornby decided to go speak with pickett in person after informing him of the plan pikett replied that if they dared land he would open fire so there they were the british had orders to land the americans had orders to prevent their landing this was it war over a small island in the middle of nowhere over a pig and some potatoes over whether the us canada border looked like this or like this it was hold on this is stupid to heck with it i'm not landing those troops i'm not going to be the one who starts a war and good thing he didn't because pretty soon after that the leading british admiral in the entire pacific region showed up rear admiral baines outranked governor douglas when he heard of everything going on he was stunned but yeah he's like you're all idiots these little these islands right here we're at like this is what we're potentially fighting for had refused douglas's plan to land troops baines could have kissed him whether he did or not history doesn't tell we need evidence i like to think they did the rear admiral canceled all of douglas's orders and instead pursued a policy of not interfering with the americans until he could contact the british government the americans not knowing the british no longer intended to land had sent reinforcements and began fortifying but even still the british navy did nothing and finally when word made it across the planet informing the two governments of the ongoing crisis everyone was shocked holy crap harney landed troops on disputed territory man i hope the british don't find out about this buchanan oh crap the british why are we getting reports of american troops on san juan island i don't know man nothing to do with me but you're the president what breckenridge am i the president yes sir yeah hey we we got a problem it looks like the southern states are considering succeeding and we're headed for the biggest crisis in the history of the nation gonna run for president too your job to fix it sir sir oh no go away not the curtain again mr president i'm not here you can go back in the pacific northwest harney was because he realized the government may not be terribly alone with his reckless actions so he began firing off even more aggressive letters justifying what he had done tell him the british were sending bands of indians to attack our men and that they're big meanies with coal for hearts and that they made me cry like a little girl wait no that makes me sound weak and they made me cry like a big girl yeah that's it when the president received tony's new letters his anxiety only grew stronger oh crap hey general scott please make this go away leave it to me sir general winfield scott was the commanding general of the entire us army well known for his negotiation skills he was a veteran of the mexican-american war during which time he had had to deal with general harney's idiocy and insubordination and he watched as harney got away with it all thanks to his friends in high places it's safe to say that scott really did not like general harney by now polk has been known as one of you know like the the big manifest destiny gets written all over james k paul because uh president during the mexican-american war andrew jackson expanding more and uh moving native americans of course then american settlers would go into so this is just like the whole era summed up right here of american expansionism the first half of the 19th century it's safe to say that scott really did not like general harney by now general scott was racked with gout and he was so big he had to be hoisted onto his ship in a basket nevertheless he began the long journey to the pacific northwest okay everyone get over here will somebody please tell me what the heck is going on i'll tell you general it all started on one fateful day last summer [Music] spotting gonna be a different story all right you damn dirty pig that's the final straw hey you can't get away from me there's a different story nowhere left to run hey i'm gonna enjoy this diamond if you spare my life grant you three words evil the pig wasn't even on his property when he shot it liar he's lying to you general i'll tell you what really happened what a pleasant summer's afternoon here on my humble farm it's just me and my beloved potatoes i'm so happy say lyman them some nice bugs you got there would be a shame if somebody ate them no not again you beast leave my potatoes alone yeah i'm gonna eat them lemon i'll eat them and then i'm gonna eat you stay back i'll shoot go ahead punk make my day shoot me shoot me he made me do it he made me do it so you're telling me you guys nearly started a war with the strongest naval power in the world over the shooting of a pig yeah yeah no he's starting to get it not only the picture the british then threatened to arrest this poor pure american soul thank you general shut up i don't care about you okay i've made up my mind you're an idiot you're an idiot you're an idiot you're an idiot you guys are fine and you two are the most mind-numbingly brain-dead ding-dongs i've ever encountered in all my life and i'll see you in my office okay harney listen i cut a deal with the brits here's how it's gonna be both sides will maintain a small force on the island for a joint military occupation until our two governments can decide who owns the island now the only way they'd agree to that is if pikett is removed from command so i'm replacing him with captain hunt here now harney listen to me do not under any circumstances put pick it back on that island okay i mean it harney do not order picket back onto the island understood yes sir good i'll see you gloves later i wonder what'll happen is he gone i think so good hunt you're fired pick it you're going back on the island all right you psychopath for this i hate you but i've always hated you carney had not only even notified the british that it did not recognize the joint occupation settlement while everyone else had decided on peace harney appeared to still be threatening war get him out of there furious winfield scott soon removed him from command and sent him elsewhere in harney's absence the joint occupation went ahead and the troops actually got along together quite well the british attended 4th of july celebrations at the american camp well the americans visited the british for queen victoria's birthday even pickett became good friends with his british counterpart war it seemed had been avoided to the level-headed actions of the royal navy in general winfield scott of course thank you the gardens were still in dispute and the question of who exactly owned them still had to be answered that answer would have to wait because while san juan was at peace the nation was staring itself apart when civil war broke out in 1861 the issue of san juan definitely watch their series on that harney despite being a southerner remained in the u.s army but was eventually removed from command at st louis when his loyalty to the union came under suspicion more famously captain pickett and native virginian went on to become a confederate general pickett's charge at the battle of gettysburg remains one of the most famous moments of the entire war and marked a major turning point u.s relations with britain actually soured during the war the british missing their supply of southern cotton initially looked like they may intervene on the side of the confederacy there was the trent effect a lot of people know that a lot of people know that um i mean the the south had always gotten better along better with um the the british than the north i mean look at where much of the revolutionary action was happening back in the american revolution um but yeah they the britain has a huge textile industry right it's what the whole industrial revolution was built upon and they don't produce their own cotton so they get them from you know whether it was the colonial era or the independent era from the united states were getting them from places like the u.s so that was economically vital for them and it wasn't the best you know interest of the british to probably to keep the southerners happy that way confederate diplomats were discovered and arrested on a british male steamer and then there were the british built ships sold to the confederacy that wreaked havoc on northern commerce when the civil war ended furious american politicians called on the british to pay reparations and by now a long list of hot issues existed between them and yes on that list remained 12 years later still the issue of who owned these gosh darn islands that issue it was finally agreed would be submitted to international arbitration the empire germany with this side with the british and americans presenting arguments the american argument was reportedly presented with a little more pizzazz a little more zinc and in the end when the germans made their decision they awarded the san juan islands to the united states [Music] when an aging douglas heard the news he said that there was no possible way the british argument had been presented correctly yeah i mean because i was you know you're thinking like it still seemed like the british had a more legitimate claim at least to part of the islands at least just san juan island i don't know about maybe the other islands but i mean those finders keepers or first one there does that hold any weight right so yeah it's like did the british just their delegation suck uh when they proposed their uh uh proposed their evidence to this british delegation was that the british conceded and on the 25th of november 1872 the last british troops left the island better make it worse the americans entered the british camp to raise their flag they found that the british had removed the flagpole one last up yours this time charles griffin had already left the island and the hudson's bay company eventually sold their sheep farm and so there you have it a dangerous situation that almost brought two great powers to war triggered by the shooting of a pig but thanks to more level-headed minds and an eagerness for peace and cooperation conflict was avoided and the only casualty of this pig war was well just a pig but how different could things have been what if the british had attempted to arrest the pig what if they had landed troops for sure could the two sides have actually gone to war another war in america have invaded canada could it perhaps still invade canada think about it why not we have the manpower oh we have okay this was all propaganda right this is all propaganda the whole time from oversimplified they want to take over canada war of 1812 2.0 let's go it's our manifest destiny picture a future where american mountains america's not over in blue and hail the stars and stripes where wayne gretzky would wave the american flag every fourth of july in the streets of montreal maple syrup the greatest american food the greatest american national park one united nation under the leadership of our glorious president drake with their affordable insulin and endless comments complaining that i don't talk about canada enough in my videos canada you got yourself you got it watch your backs sleep with one eye open tonight because biden's coming baby and this time he's coming with avengers [Music] look out canada one all right another great story told by oversimplified that was great there was so much more detail to that story than i knew about the oregon country conflict and all that um and these little things in history where these things that i mean would co was there any chance that was going to turn into like this massive war i mean no come on right could be that over those little islands um but nevertheless the cooler heads i guess prevailed but that poor pig the poor pig got killed for what land claim of some islands that nobody ever ever talks about all right once again i'll be able to use this awesome oversimplified in my classroom um i've had more time if it was like if i was you know having to do like a long unit i guess on the oregon country thing this would be this would be great to to insert into the classroom because it's a lot of fun um anyways i love these thanks again for everyone i know a lot of you came to my channel um because of oversimplified i mean oversimplified was the first reaction related content ever put on my channel a lot of you came over there but i also cover a lot of other things i have some online lessons i do some live streams and fun stuff like that so definitely check out some more of the content if you are still here because if you're still here i'm hoping you liked what you you saw here also into gaming i also have a gaming channel that i also uh do some fun stuff on some streams some videos that kind of thing there's links to that stuff down below as well as some link some links to some other stuff i run a instagram and twitter where i mostly just post fun history stuff i also have a discord server you can come out and hang out with history-minded people all right and with that see you next time bye [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Mr. Terry History

Views: 105,327

Keywords: react, history, oversimplified, pig war

Id: Xzvw5iGZn_c

Length: 26min 16sec (1576 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 15 2021