Burning Down the White House

1812 was an exciting year. Not just for Napoleon's trip to Moscow and back, with those scenes in War and Peace and the Tchaikovsky overture with the cannons, but for parallel goings-on across the pond in the War of 1812, when the United States declared war on the British Empire, for reasons including trade restrictions.

The trade restrictions had come about like this. Napoleon, beaten militarily by British forces but still strong in Europe, forbade traders from France and her allies from trading with Britain. Britain responded in similar terms, preventing French traders from trading with Britain's colonies. Britain, with its superior navy, did a much better job of enforcing its side of the argument than France could.

Thus the United States took matters into its own hands. A medium-complexity war ensued and on this day in 1814, the British army got into Washington and burned down the White House and the Treasury. Nowadays th War of 1812 is most often recalled when people are arguing whether the USA has ever lost a war or not. It is difficult to talk about winners and losers in the War of 1812 because it concluded in an even-handed peace with no land changing ownership.

That's as far as the major powers are concerned. Amongst the less enfranchised, some slaves did relatively well, with several thousand escaping to freedom. Native Americans did very badly, losing their last chance of autonomy.

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