What's more, the War of 1812 acted as something of a catalyst for Canadian norms, attitudes, and aesthetics. For example, it was only as a result of the war that the neo-Gothic architecture, which is in many ways *the* quintessential Canadian architectural style, was first employed by designers. These new farmhouses, factories, and civic buildings, many of which still dot the Southern Ontario landscape to this day, were built to replace those structures lost during the American raids. With a new sense of severity and romantic nationalism, it reflected a people who had been through devastation and survived, at a time when the injustices brought upon the Loyalists was still fresh in the cultural memory. It is a style of dark transcendence forged in blood-red brick and arches as sharp as a bayonet.