For more than a generation, American citizens, British subjects, French settlers, Native Americans, and African slaves and freedmen routinely crossed the border while living and working together in the Detroit River region. That tranquility ended suddenly with the War of 1812. While the causes of the conflict had little to do with this area, the people here had a major influence on the war’s outcome. This lecture is a companion to the latest book published by the Detroit Historical Society, “Border Crossings.”