a past war against each other, but our shared future will continue to make the u.s. and the uk the lands of the free and the home of the brave for centuries to come. >> now, if you would all rise for the morgan university choir and the u.s. navy band and our national anthem. ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪

♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave ♪

now, ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states. >> it's my great pleasure to join you in commemorating the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812. this is an important anniversary for the united states, the united kingdom and canada. i want to thank all of you, especially my friends governor o'malley and mayor rawlins blake for organizing this commemoration. in many ways it helped to define our young nation and gave americans a sense of unity and independence. it made an icon of the flag we fly and gave us the national anthem we sing. enduring symbols of our democracy. the end of the war laid the foundation for the growing relationship between the united states, the united kingdom and canada. bonds we now celebrate as the

str strongest of allies and closest of friends. as our three nations mark this milestone, i'm confident our alliance will abe a force for good and together we will leave this world a better, safer place for generations to come. >> now the secretary of the united states navy, ray mapis. >> governor o'malley, senator, the entire maryland congressional delegation, madam mayor, to the ambassadors from the united kingdom and canada. i have two observances for you. one is that i had the privilege of participating in the normandy

68th anniversary of the landings there earlier this mochlt it went to three british events. i was soaked at each one. but this is also, mr mr. ambassador, navy weather, and to our canadian friends, on my visit to canada earlier this year, both our countries are celebrating the war of 1812 as great victories. so it is fitting that we're here together at friends. we declared american independence in 1776 in philadelphia. we won our independence in 1781 at yorktown, but we secured our independence in the war of 1812. mere in baltimore on the great lakes and new orleans and on the high seas.

this war which lasted for not one year but until the peace treaty in 1815 began 200 years ago today as you have heard with this signing of the declaration of war by president madison. the lasting impact of that war is many ways greater than the actual war. you also heard many of the symbols and successes of america and he is he specially the united states navy were born in that conflict. war was declared 200 years ago today after years of injustices and injuries inflicted by britain and france, mr. ambassador. they compromise the principle and reality of freedom of the seas and congress. trade aggression against our shichs and the impressment of our sailors pushed america into a response that ignited our nation's fighting spirit and gave birth to a global united

states navy. many of the early engagements and american successes came at sea wi the first six frig gets and the constellation still moored here in baltimore in the constitution earned the name old iron sides as british cannonballs bounced off her hull made of live oak. those early battles in 1812, which are our flejingly fleet met with the royal navy were defined by american ingeneral knit and boldness, traits at that live on in today's sailors and marines. as america's early successes began to wane and as the war moved into and past the second year, the british regained the initiative even as has been pointed out attacking and burning washington in the late

summer of 1814. just a month later american determination turned the tide once more in the combined effort at sea and on land. stop british forces at north point in baltimore. while the details of these battles have dimmed, they still burn as brightly in our collective memory as the rocket's red glare of september 1814 when francis scott key in this off-told history stood on the deck a british warship and watched and waited to see if if our nation's tattered flag still flew here over fort mchenry after a night of unrelenting fire. when dawn showed that flag still there, his experience became a central part of our identity in the star-spangl"star-spangled ." this war gave us the enduring navy watch word, don't give up

the ship. from the war emerged some of america's most memorable hero, andrew jackson, leading the final victory at new orleans. the wonderfully named oliver perry building a fleet and then leading it to victory in lake erie and in nine separate great lakes campaigns to help secure our upper midwest. dolly madison risking her own life it to previous the fan jibl tangible possessions and the constitution. much as has been noted has changed in 200 years. britain, our foe then, and canada, othur foe then, have become our staunchest allies. in all my pentagon meetings with the first sea lord of britain, aadmiral sir mark stan hope including one last week, he

ruefully points out when in the office of the secretary of navy he is surrounded by paintings of burning british ships. and he is. we then, though, both gladly note that today we stand together as inseparable friends as we have for decades. we work together, we advance together, we fight together. we do the same with our brothers and sisters to our north with canada in war and in peace. our relationship with britain and with canada have changed, and our navy has changed as well. the mission of our fleet has

expand and grown expo tentally more complex. we still keep the sea-lanes open four all that those conduct commerce, but our responsibilities spread to every corner of globe and we work in every corner of the globe with our allies from britain and canada. the challenges of the world now, both actually and potentially, are immeasurable variable and multi-dimensional ranging from conventional warfare to irregular war to cyber and humanitarian aid and disaster relief. 200 years has not changed the fact that the vast majority of the world's populations live near the sea, that a vast majority of the world's commerce travels over the sea and that we are counted on to keep the peace and our sea-lanes open. to deter aggression and when needed to win the fight.

some of the tall sail that is you've seen over the weekend represent the fleet as it existed 200 years ago. wooden ships fighting each other at close range and powered by wind. wind gave way to coal, coal to oil and then to nuclear power. each transformation increased our combat effectiveness and reaffirmed naval supremacy in the world. today we are prepared once again to lead the world in energy transformation addressing a significant military vulnerability. our dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels. next month during the largest naval exercise in the world, the richl of the pacific, we will demonstrate the great green fle fleet. a carrier strike group kwhuz planes and surface combat tants run on a 50/50 blend of regular

aviation gas and diesel fuel and biofuel. i named it the great green fleet as an echo of teddy roosevelt's great white fleet which helped to usher in america as a global power at beginning of the 20th century just as the war of 1812 helped to usher in america as a power to be reckoned with in the 19th century. the smooth board cannons of 1812 you see on the constellation became common naval guns and missiles and torpedos we use today. awareness of the situation once limited to the horizon based on the eyesight of lookouts high on the ship's rigging giving way to instantaneous worldwide communications and networking. maybe in our navy and nation over the last 200 years have all been for the better. we've added women to our ranks in the navy nearly everywhere,

including today on our submarines. we greatly increase what's inquired of our sailors. there are no more jobs for strong backs and weak minds. right now our submarines are plotting the depths, our ships are under way, our marines deployed, our aircraft aloft in the words of the marine hymn, in every climb and place. everywhere these technological marvels that are our ships and planes today, everywhere they are they are manned by the finest, most highly trained moeshgs skilled fighting force ever assembled in the united states navy and marine corps. we're doing our job far from home, and we're offense out of the consciousness of the american people. we are america's away team. fewer than 1% of our population today serving in our military, so events like this give us a

chance to showcase to the other 99% what your military does. because one thing that has not changed over 200 years, the courage, the commitment, the dedication of our sailors, our marines, and all our military. this commemoration not only helps us recall that history, but it helps us -- it helps remind us that those sailors and marines and all our military continue to live up to the great legacy bequeathed to them 200 years ago. the force that came of age in the war of 1812 continues to protect us and inspire us. every person, every person who wears the uniform of this country has skill and courage and patriotism, and we're in the debt of everyone willing to wear

the uniform of america. our celebration today -- [ applause ] our celebration today honors every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform making sure that the "star-spangled banner" continues to wave and all it represents continues to endure. on to our friends the british, our friends the canadians, to the world on this historic occasion, from baltimore to boston, new york to new orleans, north point to norfolk, the great lakes to the gulf, the coast of africa to the pacific rim, from tripoli to tripoli, the u.s. navy, the u.s. marine corps continue to protect our interests by projecting our power around the globe.

this naval heritage that we so proudly honor here today will not only persevere. we, in concert with our friends and allies, will continue to prevail. from the navy forever courageous. from the marine corps, forever faithful. thank you. >> now to close our program today, the governor of maryland, martin o'malley. >> thank you. good seeing you out of studio. >> thank you. >> thank you all very, very much. it is a great honor and privilege to be with all of you on this 200th anniversary as we commemorate the war of 1812 and in particular with a little bit of hometown pride. the courageous and piftal role,

decisive role that the people of baltimore played in its outcome. to ambassador duer and bams dor westcot and tina orcutt and senator ben carden and senator barbara mikulski, and bob schieffer, i thank all of you for your presence here today. it gives me pleasure to welcome i understand mrs. hazel manning, former first lady of trinidad, is with us somewhere today. miss manning was a descendant of the mary king community in trinidad, which was settled by former slaves who left maryland and the chesapeake during the war. and she recently participated in a collaborative project between the united states embassy and the british and canadian high commissions which documented the

cultural heritage of the mary king community. i also want to thank all of the members of the war of 1812 by centennial commission. chip mason, who is with us. senator paul sarbanes, also mark feting with legg mason and also of those are friends from underarmour and gallagher and aviles and jones and so many other people including our sponsors who made this weekend an outstanding kickoff. on behalf of the people of baltimore and maryland, we are honored as a city and state to usher in this international by centennial commemoration of the war of 1812. very shortly we will sign a declaration appropriately -- a declaration of peaces, of our people's coming together as we have for the better part of our -- of more than 200-year history together with our neighbors in canada and great

britain, and i especially want to thank the commanders of nine other nations whose people sent their beautiful, tal ships and crews to be a part of this commemoration, and i would like to thank each of you. we are kicking off what will be a two-year celebration, and i want to especially thank the united states navy, secretary ray mabis. we could not be more proud of our men and women of the united states navy and marine corps, and the demonstration that you have made here with your personal involvement and commitment has really been outstanding. there many moments i will remember spending time at this fort. congressman burger and john sarbanes with us, i think we share a love for this place. one of the memories i will

always cherish is looking over those ramparts and looking at the star-spangled banner and see the blue angels roaring over these ramparts. what an outstanding moment. in that never seen, superintendent, so many people here at the fort. moms and dads, black and white, grandparents, little kids. it was really outstanding. i would like to make just two points. so much has been said and said so eloquently by the ambassadors and by our secretary from a baltimore perspective and is a maryland perspective, there are a couple lessons that we clearly see having emerged from this experience, from this sacrifice, from this conflict. and the most important one of which is that freedom is not free. it was not the federal government that paid for this

fort. it was the townspeople, the merchants, the business community of baltimore that paid for our defense. it was also a time that made us realize that we could not be a free nation. the freedom is not free. that the united states navy is not some luxury that we can only afford when our coffers and pockets are completely filled. it is something essential for the liberty and the freedom of our country. and to paraphrase robert frost, i suppose clear borders make good neighbors. and as our canadian neighbors also realized in that war that freedom is not free. the second point i wanted to make is this. and it is the very plur bus unionum nature of this defense, from many people, different people, came this defense. the defenders of baltimore, secretary mabis, where at least

50% of us were immigrants, or the sons and daughters of immigrants. in fact, 60% of the army garrison of 100 army soldiers stationed inside this fort were immigrants. one out of five of the defenders of baltimore, including some of the uniformed army soldiers inside that fort, were african-american citizens of a still as yet very imperfect country who, nonetheless, saw the sort of great republic that their children and grandchildren might one dayin herrit and become a part. there were people like will williams, uniformed, african-american soldier inside that fort who died as a result of injuries sustained in the conflict. across lass ratto point, you had the able lieutenant, albert ball, of joshua barney's men.

and that very flag itself, sewn together by mary pinkersville and her daughters, also sewing that flag with them was a 13-year-old black indeny toured servant named grace wisher. this wasp very much an integrated defense, a baltimore defense. from many different people came one great nation. and the common thread that held those stars and stripes together, sewn together by black and white hands, defended by black and white lives, was the thread of human dignity. the dignity of home. the dignity of place. the dignity of neighbors helping and defending neighbors. the dignity of every individual. this is our story. this is a story worthy of a great people. and this is the story that we will tell together and sing

together in the years ahead. thank you very, very much. >> what is a governor without a projeclamation? when i raise my hand i would like all of you to say "whereas." i would also like to thank the outstanding morgan state university choir for being here today. so here we go. >> whereas -- >> the united states fought a global war against great britain and its colonies from june 18th, 1812 until february 18th 1850 and -- >> whereas. >> nearly two years of peace between the united kingdom of great britain and the united states of america have existed since the conclusion of that war and -- >> whereas -- >> -- the colonies of canada unified as the providence of

canada in 1841 attained confederation status in 1867, and then by virtue of the statute of westminster in 1931, achieved recognition as an independent nation and -- >> whereas -- >> -- the current border between canada and the united states stands as the longest, unguarded and demilitarizeded border in the world and -- >> whereas -- >> -- the national park service and parks, canada, are working together as part of an international effort to recognize and commemorate the buy scentennial of the war of 18912 and -- >> whereas -- >> -- can and the united states became staunch allies as they provided support necessary for two wars and the prolonged cold war in europe and -- >> whereas -- >> -- these three nations are presently in common accord in their efforts to wanige the on going war against terrorism. now, therefore, we, the under signed on this 18th day of june,

2012, on the bicentennial of the united states declaration of war against the united kingdom of great britain, in a conflict that became known as the war of 1812, come together at this ceremony at ft. mchenry national monument to confirm the magnitude of in kmemration and acknowledge have these by centennial events brought culture and sovereignty of our three nations and the importance of an enduring peace among us. and this will be signed by his excellency, gary doer from the ambassador of can do to the united states of america, his excellency sir peter westcould have, ambassador of great britain. the honorable remained mabis, secretary of the navy of the united states of america. yours truly. and united states senator from maryland barbara a. mikulski. ladies and gentlemen?

>> the honorable barbara ann mikulski. and now let all three people say haza. >> haza. >> we've done it. ladies and gentlemen, we are now adjourned. i am told to tell you that those with invitations to the reception aboard the "quebec" may board at the ft. mchenry visitor center. thank you for coming. what a wonderful day. ♪

♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies forever waves of gray ♪ ♪ for purple mountains majesties of all the bay ♪ ♪ america america his grace on thee ♪ ♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea