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Here is a true story of how the great nations of America and England almost went to war in 1859 over a pig—but learned to share instead. In 1859, the British and Americans coexist on the small island of San Juan, located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. They are on fairly good terms--until one fateful morning when an innocent hog owned by a British man has the misfortune to eat some potatoes on an American farmer's land. In a moment of rash anger, Lyman Cutlar shoots Charles Griffin's pig, inadvertently almost bringing the two nations to war. Tensions flare, armies gather, cannons are rolled out . . . all because of a pig! Emma Bland Smith's humorous text and Alison Jay's folksy illustrations combine in this whimsical nonfiction picture book that models the principles of peaceful conflict resolution.
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Back in 1859, on the island of San Juan off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, there live citizens of both Britain and the US. The ownership of the island is not clear. One morning a pig owned by a British citizen eats the potatoes of a neighbor who is an American citizen, and the American rashly shoots and kills the pig. Letters to important people in both countries are quickly dashed off, and before you know it armed British ships are facing armed American ships, and war almost breaks out.
But war doesn't break out.
This is the true story of how war was averted, a story that offers an example for us all today of alternate ways of solving conflict.