At the beginning of the American Revolution (1775), American rebels invade Canada but les Canadiens refuse to take up arms against British rule, and the invasion ultimately fails. The mass migration of 40,000 Loyalists that follows creates an English-speaking Canada virtually overnight. When the next American invaders arrive in 1812, they are fought to a stand-still at the battles of Queenston Heights, Chateauguay and Lundy's Lane. The cast of characters includes the military commanders General Isaac Brock and Colonel Charles-Michel de Salaberry; Hannah Ingraham and her Loyalist family; Benedict Arnold, the traitor to the American Revolution; Indian leader, Tecumseh; Pierre Bedard, tactician of an emerging colonial democracy; and Canadian traitors who are publicly executed.