The war of 1812 was foisted upon an unwilling nation by a congress controlled by a group of congressmen called the war hawks whose main goal was the conquest of canada. assess the validity of this statement.

This is a valid statement. Americans didn't want to participate in the war and neither did the congress. They supported it because the war hawks were a group a war mongering politicians who wanted to participate in the war. Americans tried to go north and take Canada but failed at first which only boosted British strength. South Canada attacks also failed, and in the end when the war was ended the border status of both countries returned to ante bellum status.