if russia collapses back into the continental system, napoleon but any desertion is a problem is utterly dominant in europe for these crews that are already shorthanded. and what possible hope have the and british officers have the british got and they will have to make terms and it will be possible then to negotiate with perception that their men are them on a range of issues. prone to desert along the coast of the united states to a much but the british wouldn't greater degree than they ever surrender to napoleon and let would desert anywhere else in the world. alone to james madison and the so the british, this adds to a main british army was successfully in spain under the certain skittishness when the british do go ashore. duke of wellington and the because their commanders have british simply have no spare the unenviable task of fighting ships, men or money to fight a an enemy while also closely war with anybody else. guarding their own men. indeed, during the war of 1812, the british military effort on so the chesapeake have a couple land and see was rarely more of problems. than 7% in their land and sea that are revealed in 1813 in their operation. forces. they simply didn't have any more one is, they need able-bodied to spare. it wasn't a case of choice. that was all there was. so in 1812 in 1813, british men who would resolutely fight the enemy rather than desert. strategy defensive and has largely reactive and the americans had the initiative and a potential solution lay in the hundreds of run away slaves who they chose where to fight and

how to fight. were eager to be on british as you know the united states naval warships. opened the conflict with what should have been a three-pronged offensive into what is now canada and a surge of war ships and privateers into the western they were fleeing to seek refuge during 1813, unlike the british atlantic to cut britain's economic lifelines. deserter who anticipated a the canadian frontier became the better life in the republic, the main military theater and for three years heavily outnumbered former slave didn't want to go back to the republic. british regulars and canadian militia and warriors defended so they did not desert. as marines, they could be the border. deployed to watch the white they had some troops into the sailors and pursue deserters. canadian theater and they came from the west indies and not admiral coburn sought to replace from europe. many of his white marines with black recruits. and until after the end of the napoleonic conflict. as long as napoleon remained in power, british strategy will be quote, they are stronger men and more trust worthy. i am sorry to say that we have defensive, the border did not many instances of our marines walking over to the enemy. move and that was a long running, but ultimately end quote. and promoting slave escape stalemated conflict and this left the madison at minh station seemed the perfect turnabout to punish the americans who were so with the destruction of british floating trade and the wrecking zealous about enticing britains of britain's economy.

to desert from their duty. strategy that relied on privateering. the united states navy was too small to do this and it needed the assistance of a large number and so it is the desertion of privately owned and operated problem that is one of the things that nudges these naval licensed predators. officers to embrace blacks as essential allies in the the british response to the chesapeake war. american declaration of war and to perform more effectively, the there is the canadian frontier british needed more men they was the appointment of vice admiral seen here with this red sash on with a nice garter. a diplomat, highly successful have a second problem, here to naval operator, he was sent to the solution to their problem lies with run away slaves who command the entire theater with powers to negotiate an armistice were pressing themselves on the british in growing numbers and an early return to the status quo, and that was all the british wanted. during 1813 they're under strict are the americans serious about orders not to take in a this war in are they not significant number of refugees prepared to think about this and go back to business as usual? they were renewed of march of 1813 by the british secretary of state. warr warren's job was to do everything, but wage are war until they were absolutely determined on fighting. his command stretched from but despite these orders, black men, women and children are

newfoundland and mexico and he stealing boths and r ining boato would be haefrmmpered by poor the warships and calling the bluff of the commanders. support from his government. his defense of british shipping and they're forcing those naval in the atlantic would determine the outcome of the war, but only officers to make hard decisions, after the americans had declared that they were desperately will they take in these men, women and children in violation serious about waging it. of their orders or send them only then could he turn defense back? into offense imposing a to suffer severe punishment by their masters? devastating economic blockade that simply treated the united and naval officers are coming to states as another part of napoleon's continental system, perceive african-americans as a something to be blockaded and potential military resource that economically ruined. could be invaluable and they initially, shortage of ships and know if they start sending these limited rules of engagement people back to severe punishment hampered warren's business, but even in late 1812 he began the they will lose that potential resource. difficult job of capturing and also, frankly, they like feeling incarcerating the american holier than thousand compared to americans. privateer fleet. as british prisons filled with american sailors, the privateer effort would finally begin to falter. and here is the great only in mid-november some five opportunity for british naval

and a half months after the officers to say who is the declaration of war did warren learn that the americans' work world's most severe and true drped to continue the conflict. champions of liberty in the he was then tasked to the set up world, the people taking on a fully effective convoy napoleon in the despotism and shipping transiting from the new world to the old, from the suppressing the international caribbean and from british north slave trade and willing to america into british ports. emancipate the slaves held by by this stage, over 150 british these freedom-loving republicans of the united states. merchant ship his already been captured and more privateers were fitting out. well, this is too delicious for british naval officers to there was more money to be made resist. in privateering and it was an attractive option in 1812. and they really don't want to his masters in london underestimating the scaling of a resist and they have to write to privateer threat and rather their home government to try to ignorant of the length and get that home government to shift its policy. complexity of the united states coastline sent in very few in late may, admiral warren resources and what they did send reported to the admiral that his initially were not of the first warships had received about 70 quality. they woke up when the united states navy won three shattering refugees, quote to him it was impossible to refuse asylum end victories over the royal navy. quote. these successes in the autumn of and in these reports to his 1812 made the british government superiors, warren is walking a fine line. pay attention.

here we see the constitution taken into the gerier in the wonderful picture which manages he can't really turn them all away. to disguise the key fact of the battle. it was only two-thirds the size of the constitution and it had two-thirds the firepower and rather less than two-thirds the by the end of 1813, the best crew if the american captain had lost the battle he would have made a poor showing, indeed, but evidence is at least 600 that's not the story that enslaved people escaped to the british. appeared in the republican newspapers. the the second battle and the loss of macedonia was rather noted the potential. the slaves continue to come off by every opportunity. and i have now upwards of 120 embarrassing and the third frigate captured a fight and once again, a far bigger men, women and children onboard, american ship. the two defeats of the guerrier and there is no doubt they would were neither dishonorable nor cheerfully join us against the americans, end quote. disadvantageous. they got their crew back and the one thing they were short of were sailors as from the pre-war although, many masters have come out under flags of truce and received permission to speak to impress their former slaves. impressment. they had to go home for repairs

quote, not a single black would so the cost of win something glory, the americans had ruined return to his former owner. their mission. the british government comes around and endorses warren's these were strategically proposal to enlist black troops irrelevant victories, but they among the run aways. did provide the the united states government which had a lot to explain with some very useful propaganda. the fact the republican administration had had hamstrung for it was well understood that the navy for 12 years made it the men would not come if they ironic that it was the nave they could not also bring women and rose to their rescue. the british government ordered children with them general reprisals on the 14th of implementation of the new policy october 1812 and news that didn't reach the new world until the end of november. who supplanted war on april 1st on november 21st the british of 1814. government imposed a strict and rigorous, and i quote, blockade on the chesapeake bay and the delaware river. they knew who voted for war and it never uses the words slaves. who didn't, so if your congress but instead is a address ed who pan voted for war the british blockaded you and attacked you and if your congressman didn't may be dissupposed to emigrate work for war, british left you

alone. they understood the best way to with their families turns out, defeat the enemy was divide and conquer, not overwhelm because there's ols one white family that takes him up on this and britain is a country and have no that was in georgia at the end history of overwhelming anybody. of the war. further more, the northeastern and they had to explain it ports were providing huge wasn't mend for them. amounts of resource for the british war effort in spain in particular. the duke of wellington's army, eight american grain. but it's also in his american food supplies also proclamation. crossed into british north because he had 1,000 copies of this printed up. america. the good people of vermont fed the british army of canada for the word free put in capital the entire war. to their enormous profit, one has to understand. critically, the economic block cade was finally established on letters. the 21st of february 1813 eight either entering into the land months after the war had begun. forces or being sent as free there had been a gelden eight settlers to the british possessions in north america or months in which it was possible the west indies where they will to continue operating in peace and war at the same time. meet with all encouragement. ultimately, this blockade would be the decisive strategy. it would make the american economy and it would bankrupt the state and it would leave it he has his subordinate and his unable to borrow money

internally or on internationally. the united states would run out subordinates distribute them. of money and as everybody knows they'll nail this up on trees, they're trying to get the word out. the sinews of war is money, incredibly the americans help in the process unwittingly by money and more money and you have to stop fighting. reprinting it in their this, of course, is by a british newspapers. now, they do this because they can't wait to denounce it. artist and it takes the scales of the ship -- well, that's not actually quite as accurate as it might be. the the java was a little bigger than that, but it does look like the constitution is shooting at they want to ensure that the a rowboat. british are going to sell them away to slavery in the west the decisive battle of the 1812 indies. happened in the 7th of that's the culture of the day. september. you're all familiar with it, enough to write a vast, is this is a world in which black imphonic work, enough to inspire people and white people live a significant novel and to bring intermixed amongst each other. down an emperor. anything that white folk talk in a single field work on this about, black folk learn about had day of battle more russians died than were killed or died of and interpret in their own way illness in the whole of the war of 1812 on all sides. the national intelligencer

this really was a titanic clash doesn't mean to be promoting of two emperors and two vast slave escapes, but unwittingly does so. armies numbering close on and the orders now are different 200,000 men each. the the war of 1812 would not be fought by armies of 200,000 men. so cochran instructs, quote, the in fact, it wouldn't be fought by 200,000 men all told. protection of the desertion than as 1813 began, james madison with view of any advantage. knew that napoleon had lost. his army was in full retreat. the great point to be obtained indeed, it was in complete is the cordial support of the collapse. he'd taken this country to war on the premise the french would population with them properly armed and backed with 20,000 win. they'd lost, now what was going british troops, mr. madison will to happen? this also took the pressure off be hurled to his throne. britain and it released naval this is now job one. reinforce ams from the british fleet in the baltic and a very important fleet which had kept the baltic open for british it is the essential means to the trade. for the previous five years those ships and key personnel end the defeat of the madison administration. were moveda, cross to the north american station. the british careful low picked out the right ships and right offices to send to blockade the these are the types of boats the united states. their best men, many of them british used in the raids. this is a drawing done by one of

proteges of nelson, one of whom the subordinate admirals active we will come to. in the chesapeake operation. furthermore, with russian trade open the british didn't need to the actual drawing, though, is done along the coast of -- along buy grain from the americans anymore and the russian his plenty of grain and it was the shores of louisiana later in closer to britain. the war. in the summer of 1813, fast but it's the same type of coastal craft used in the chesapeake. british battle ships and more numerous and better commandered now, the british establish a frigates were to blockade new york, boston and the chesapeake. refugee camp on the island. the united states navy would find it difficult to get to sea and the privateers would not find it easy to protect, well it is regarded as ideal because organized and protected british it is sufficiently removed from convoys. the shores of virginia, the among the men who would arrive mainland shores of virginia. in 1813 none would be more but it's pretty secure from attack. famous or more relevant for this con prens than the admiral it's close enough and right in george coburn. the center of the black a man made captain and picked out by one of the stars of the population of virginia. future and he was sent over here very specifically to take the both on the eastern shore and to offensive on to the american the west on the western shore. coast, and i quote, accelerate in coburn's words, the island the return of peace. we know what he did. was, quote, surrounded by the districts from which the negroes these reinforcements enabled them to impose a naval blockade always come end quote. this is a modern artist's

in the coast of the spring of 1813 and frigates in boston and attempt to imagine the drilling of the colonial marines. new york. this meant the threat to convoys colonial marines was the special was merely from privateers and an escort of convoys with a unit formed for american blacks, frigate alongside it was safe former slaves to augment british forces in the chesapeake. from american pronation. we have no images from that time the economic block cade was biting, too. new york, the largest american of colonial marines. port producing one-quarter from it requires an artist informed the national revenue was closed. by knowing what the uniforms of the revenue was drying up regular marines look like and because most federal revenue came from import and export knowing something about the dues. structure that would be built in state revenue fell to virginia at that time. this is showing the refugee camp catastrophic levels and it would have to be paid for on at the tangier island and borrowing. showing the drilling by a white american government stopped and officer the man gesturing with failed sustainable rates and it was clear that something was his hand of three new recruits fundamentally wrong and the of the colonial marines. pressure of the block cade blo the -- initially, admiral coburn immediately felt. 1813, first the frigate's united states and macedonia were driven into new london by british has a pretty low expectation of

these troops. squadron from with where the and the colonial marines is a world emerged and uss chesapeake unit that resembles on a much seen here with the stars and smaller scale the union color stripes under the union jack was regiments of the civil war. captured by hms shannon in a in that the officers are white men. battle that lasted 11 minutes. but the enlisted man and the the most brilliant, brave and ncos are african-americans. heroic feat of either navy in the entire war. the fact that captain philip broker won the battle was an and they are being attracted into the service because they're not being compelled to do it. obsessive maniac meant that lawrence had picked the wrong and, indeed, as far as we can tell, most of the run aways, enemy. he would have done very well. indeed, including most of the but with those three frigates men don't choose to be colonial marines. some of them end up in the royal removed from the american navy's navy as sailors. list at sea, the naval threat others work as guides. many women worked as nurses. effectively evaporated. the navy focused on privateers and by the end of the war some of them are serving as paid servants for british officers. others go to work for the naval dock yard in bermuda. there's a range of roles, and it 650,000, we built it it for the french and ran out of frenchmen is a subset of the men who are serving in the colonial marines. so we sent the americans there as well. >> the british hoped the war and they are not compelled to do would go away. they just wanted the americans this. though, there is a great deal of

persuasion applied to encourage to say we're sorry. them to serve. we'll go back, and it was on the and they are attracted by the table from day one until the very last day because that's fact that they will be paid, what the peace treaty was. they will receive decent that's all the british wanted. clothing for the first time in their lives. in 1813 the shannon action got they will receive a daily meat the british quite excited. here is the contemporary cartoon ration for the first time in their lives. they will receive a daily alcohol ration for the first by george crookshank. time in their lives. they will receive some respect, and they will have the 1813 was not about america. opportunity to plunder in some it was about napoleon. cases kill their former masters. there was another great battle at lipzeig. in september 1813, napoleon lost now, possessing racial prejudice -- because these naval 73,000 men from an army of a officers, again, they're growing into this role. quarter of a million. his empire collapsed and retreated to france and the writing was on the wall for his don't get the idea these are empire. the british poured money and william lloyd garrison on the munitions into europe to defeat decks of these naval warships. they've got other priorities. napoleon. they did not send men nor money to north america. they would have taken the status so they're not natural born quo any time. abolitionists. they defended canada, but didn't have resources to do anything they're working up a real good

hatred for the united states as else. in 1813 george coburn's raid this conflict goes along. seized initiative, closing down and it occurs to them by liberating their slaves and privateer bases and damaging the using them against them. that's what's going on here. property of those who voted for war. and coburn thought it's useful at end of 1813 the economic because it draws these people away from their masters, it blockade was stretched up to the end of maine and this would weakens the economy. he's not so sure these young men are going to be effective promote sectional conflict. fighters. british option were very limited. said, quote, neither very in 1813, they had a chance they wanted to do something for 30 valorous or very active, that's years to capture the estuary in what he says in april of 1814, northern belgium, the one place just as this drilling is starting. you could invade england from. a month later, however, coburn changed his mind upon noticing they lost, it was embarrassing. how well the new recruits they just didn't have the responded to their training on manpower to do anything serious in europe and europe was far tangier. he reported they were, quote, more important toffl3 north am getting on astonishing and are and the idea that they had fond fellows. they have induced me all to the offensive plans here is untrue. bad opinion i had of the whole of their race and now really throughout the war there would believe these, we are training, be more british troops defending will neither show want of zeal the west indies than they were or courage when employed by us defending canada because the in attacking their old masters.

political power of the west end quote. india planters and per chance were far greater than canada. and with glee he noted that this was the news of the colonial west indy interests saw admiral marines was alarming the local warren replaced by alexander masters. cochran in the spring of 1813 quote, they expect blackie will and he, too, will feature in the have no mercy on them. and they know he understands war. as peace approached in europe, bush fighting and the locality and he told the europeans he of the woods and perhaps play it would not discuss bellin rant hide and seek in them even rights at a peace conference. better, end quote. blockade, impressment and he and during may and june, he told the americans the same starts to employ the colonial thing. these were the the basses of marines as part of the raiding british power. britain is a sea power, not land power and he's britain's only forces, and they are systemat systematically targeting militia strong arm. as a small, weak straight it it batteries particularly along the eastern shore and along the maximized the strength of his navy. northern neck of virginia, and british naval power kept them in the valley of southern maryland. apart and condemned president madison to a solitary conflict. and they perform very admirably. once the americans had taken the and when the universal praise of rights off their agenda peace could be discussed again, a town british naval officers, i'll

in belgium then occupied by just quote one of them, and again, it's coburn. british troops and they might as but you can multiply these quotes, quote. well have had the treat ney britain. americans resorted to how uncommonly and unexpectedly interesting mechanisms to defeat well the blacks have behaved in the royal navy and they were not the several engagements. and one of them was shot and hugely impressed. >> you may kiss my tafrail, mr. died instantly in the front of the others, it did not daunt or yankee doodle says jack tar. check the others in the least but on the contrary animated not impressed. them to seek revenge. here is a german cartoon of the downfall of napoleon and went now, on the one hand by from the emperor of the world to recruiting blacks and in the emperor of a very small significant numbers, the british are able to escalate their shore rates. island. here is the main player in our they are able to go deeper sore, the officially commissioned portrait and this inland than they ever could in is how he wished to be 1813. remembered and this isn't accidental. this is a man telling us about himself. they also need to do so because he clearly thought this was one the british cannot sustain their of his more important events. crews without food drawn from as we know, the occupation of washington and the destruction the shores of the chesapeake. of the public buildings was a major event, but more important and there are more and more it sparked a run on the american people on these warships and banks. anybody who had any cash took it

tangier island as they're out of american banks and put it welcoming more refugees. and the first year of this operation when they're reluctant in canadian banks which paid to take on the refugees, 600 had come to them. better. >> on october 4th, the united i believe that 2800 went during states became insolvent and it 1814, which shows the payoff of defaulted on the louisiana the british now welcoming them purchase yet neither the and aggressively going out and destruction of washington and nor the defeat of the british seeking them. forces had any serious effect on but now they have to feed them british policy. on top of their own crews. the british offered the status and so that means they have to accelerate and escalate their quo ante even after the downfall of napoleon, was there not a war here they wished to fight and rate raiding into the interior the peace treaty signed on 1814 to get food, livestock in particular. but to get hams, to get again was little more than chickens. recognition of that fact. here is some of coburn's they're seeking out food. and they are going to the places handiwork and here's some more where their colonial marines of it. the battle of north point, an interesting, vent, but far more know best their former important, the signing of the neighborhoods. and that's an opportunity then for some revenge. treaty of gent. and it's also more importantly an opportunity to get out by the time the treaty was relatives who have been left behind. signed the united states was in default by 3 million pounds, $53 so everybody's purposes are

million and $15 million then being served by these rates. outstanding on interest the purposes of these runaways payments. the the national debt rose by 200%. little wonder that canada who have become colonial marines and the purposes of the british demanded an impressment on who want to punish the americans belligerent rights were and get food for their own crews and this expanding refugee abandoned. population. there would be two more battles. the battle of new orleans you they benefit from the nocturnal have heard of and this one is not in the textbooks and the british captured the american knowledge of enslaved peoples who have had to become intimate flagship and the s.s. president of sandy hook in 1815 in another experts in the landscape. because they have had to know action in which both captains how to navigate it at night and fought brilliantly, but the british captain was more dodge slave patrols in order for them to meet their friends, to meet their wives, to meet their brilliant. children. >> it is no accident that hms president and it is the direct because black families have been split up in this period of time, descendant of this ship and when you walk into the mess, if you and they tend to live on different farms and plantations. stop before you get to the far so the black community is you will see full engravings of maintained by nocturnal travel. they are the experts in this landscape. this battle and this is the one the british remember. they know it better than their masters who allegedly own it. >> this is the war of 1812. and it is that knowledge that this is what 1812 is all about passes to the british. and not interfering in the settlement of europe. and we can find both in british the congress of vienna created a sources very eloquent statements peaceful, stable, european state about how much better informed and more secure they are now

system open for business and that they have blacks as their unlikely to lead to another major conflict. guides. and as their light infantry in that was britain's war aim. terms of these colonial marines. but we also find it from in the whole course of 22 years fighting the french, the british american officers. took from the rest of europe, one of them brigadier general two very small islands and one in the mediterranean called john p. hungerford of virginia said, quote, our negroes are flocking to the enemy from all malta and heligoland. quarters, which they convert into troops, vindictive and they gave it all up for peace and stability. and then napoleon came back and not for long. rapacious with the most minute he was rapidly arrested after bypass. the the battle of waterloo by they return upon us as guides and soldiers in incendiaries. admiral sir henry holson, the it was by the aid of these man who had run the battle for guides that ambushes were formed the previous two years. >> when the war was over the everywhere in the woods. republican party did what you from this cause alone, the enemy normally do as a political organization when you presided have a great advantage over us over a failure. they declared it a great success in a country where the passes is biways through our necks and and the republican party's swamps are so little known to speech writers and newspaper men and everybody else celebrated a great victory and three frigate but very few of our officers and men and through which the enemy

victories in new orleans and the standard war of 1812 version can be conducted with so much which came down through the years. ease by these refugee blacks. sir walter scott who understood end quote. how to create fabulous stories and this is the same modern realized what the americans were artist imagination of the doing and rather regretted they colonial marines engaged in one hadn't been taught a more severe lesson and he realized the of these raids at benedict, british weren't prepared to maryland. and it shows them destroying some kegs of alcohol in the fight a war for such as teaching foreground. lessons. in the middle ground, you see a he knew american pens would british naval officer directing create a victory that had eluded a black family to safety and freedom in british boats that their swords. the legacy of 1812 would be not are just out of the sea here. territory and not maritime and then the distant background, you seen an american sailing rights, but a distinct american ship being burned. culture. the war of 1812 forced the so the whole range of activities united states to face up to that colonial marines would have itself and recognize that it wasn't part of something else it been involved with or i should say several of their activities are combined in this one was of itself and it was a country that would have its own imagined reconstruction of their culture and it would paint its activities. own pictures. it would write its own stories and it would create an american now, the point i want to make is that this raiding would not have identity and this war is the been effective without the spark from which that emerged. colonial marines that transforms >> the war drove america to a

british operations. here is a map done, and i'm distinctive new world identity grateful to ralph eschelman for and the west would have ops over the narrow confines and dusty sharing that with me. histories of europe. this shows the variety of perhaps the destruction of a targets the british had in 1813, classical mansion was the conflict's most appropriate the first year. and you'll see that a fairly metaphor. thank you very much. [ applause ] randomly scattered along the bay east and west, north and south, but then maritime targets are the principal targets. and that's indicated by these symbols for sailing ships. now, if we go to 1814, we'll see >> we now have a short the very different nature of british attacks. opportunity for some questions and answers and i would be more many more shore raids and than happy to do some questions. they're concentrated, particularly along the northern neck of virginia, and in please. southern maryland. either along the shores of potomac on the maryland side, but especially along the river. >> how did the american finances recover after the war? the british are targeting them for a reason. one is there are a lot of black people there who are eager to was trade duty suspect to refill

the treasury? get out and help the british. did we find default on the loan? these are also the pathways or i should say the water ways that yeah. >> the economic problems of the lead to washington, d.c. united states were ended by the and coburn has been planning conclusion of peace. it opened up the international from the very start of the war. hooe est money markets to america. he's been looking for opportunity to get to it also persuaded american washington. he did not have that opportunity in 1813. now he has it in 1814. financiers that there was what he must first do is soften something worth investing in. if you'd seen the capital city up and eliminate militia trashed and the government fleeing you don't think this country is something that you resistance along one of these two corridors. want to invest in long term. the virginians are much more so the the resumption of peace opens up the domestic taps and it also leads to a massive boom republican than the marylanders of southern maryland. and so they fight a lot harder. in trade. all of that trade that didn't so, coburn decides that it's happen from 1812 to 1815, it happened pretty much as soon as the war ends. news of peace in london prompts where the resistance is every merchant in the whole of the united kingdom to on load eliminated much earlier. ships on with goods that we because most people don't want think will sell in america and a to be part of this war at all. huge armada of trade crosses the earlier because most of the people living in southern maryland don't really want to be atlantic and the east coast port part of this war at all. is flooded and business booms and they certainly don't want to deal with superior british again and there is an economic forces that are now well-guided setback, but essentially the by the local experts in the

united states is able to recover landscape. and it is because of this that the british are able to land the equilibrium in the without any opposition at aftermath. so peace is really good for benedict in mid-august of 1814. business and it's really good and they are able to advance to for the economy. war is not. it's a lesson the british this the upper reaches of the river and to approach the very learned many years before. outskirts of washington, d.c., again, without any opposition because that opposition has already been eliminated by the raids of the summer. >> yes. have you seen -- the public record office. >> the mike is coming. sorry. and they were able to brush aside militia resistance which it belatedly appears at >> have you seen the public bladensburg and push into washington, d.c., where they record office any orders to famously burn the public buildings. coburn and ross to burn the public buildings in washington here is a very famous image of and the implication being that. and you will notice, there's not a single black face represented retaliati retaliation? >> thank you very much. in this, which is all too common this is one of the great questions about what happens in among representations of battles washington. of the war of 1812. were coburn and ross operating they are presented as lily white under spike orders such as affairs in almost all cases. burning the white house? the colonial marines were very certainly there was a sense that much present in the occupation

after the occupation of what is now toronto and the destruction of washington, d.c., and in the burning of the white house and of the public buildsinings on t the capitol. the niagara front where there now, so my argument today has were destruct of private and been that the colonial marines public buildings by both sides that the the public buildings of the state that started the war and black refugees in general transform the british operation were fair game and nobody in in the chesapeake and make it europe would have thought this was in any way surprising. far more effective and the whole operation was destructive to the americans organized by george coburn. than had been their operation in he was the only man among those in command that had been here 1813 when they did not have the long enough about how to get same level of support and there and the chronology is assistance from black americans. quite clear. the army with ross and alexander now, this is an image that is produced. i'm going to get this magic arrow out of the way, which is not part of the original image. cochran and the landed on the pa tuxet and marched across. you may recognize this he's responsible for everything structure. that happens. he had no problem with that, but it's the u.s. capitol building. he didn't have specific orders to do it. this was produced in 1817 by a his boss, alexander cochran was very supportive. critic of american slavery, an cochran had lost his elder american critic of american brother in the revolutionary war

and harbored some dislike of americans as a consequence of slavery named jesse torrey. and jesse torrey wants you to think about the destruction of the capitol building and wants that. it was a very divisive war and you to draw certain conclusions there were many of the british from it. and those conclusions that he side that remember that conflict that fought as young men or as a wants you to reach are indicated by the other figures he's put in ship captain in the royal navy. so memories of the last war were this particular engraving. still very strong. they were quite raw for many people. you can see down here in the right foreground a group of enslaved african-americans, a slave coffle. washington, d.c., was a major center for the interstate slave >> you mentioned the burning of trade of the united states which the government building, but is accelerating in this very period of time. we've heard it it often said that no private buildings were and, indeed, although i certainly find it impressive burned, but pamela scott showed me a drawing the other day that that 3,400 african-americans will escape to freedom during i had noticed before that i the war of 1812 from the hadn't thought about in this context, a drawing by latrobe in chesapeake, it is probably that december of 1815 that shows something on the order of 60,000 enslaved chesapeake slaves were george washington's buildings moved deeper south into the

harsher slavery of the deep south during the same period of burned rue ins of them and a time. large tavern nearby, nearby the and jesse torrey is commenting the capital that was also in on that. ruins. this was a year after the we have a slave trader who is british were there and it seems as though they must have done there with a group of enslaved the burning. people, men, women and children. >> thank you for that. and then just so you will did the british destroy any other buildings in washington? the one private building they further get the message, we have destroyed was a building from which a sniper shot general ross' horse and missing general a couple of other etherial figures floating in the sky. ross was the target. two lady liberties who are -- so it was part of a tariff so they when you put together the three components of this, the message pulleded it down. they destroyed the office of the national intelligence, but any is that the u.s. capitol burned sound general would like to see for the sins of the united the press suppressed. states in sustaining slavery in george coburn took all of the letters seized out of the com the land devoted to freedom. pos tor's box so they couldn't now, the last thing i want to write more articles about that. show you is the only photograph they had frequently compared that we know of of one of the them to satan and not to satan's runaways from the war of 1812. this is gabriel hall. advantage and he took a particular delight. he then decided he hadn't done

enough and he took the press out he came from calvert county, and did that as well. maryland. he was born probably in 1801. >> remember that in the he was 13 years old when he aftermath of that occupation, escaped, so about the same age was there a tremendous storm and that willis had been. there was a lot of damage done by the storm, as well and that and this is a photograph taken may have been storm damage but much later in life, in 1891, there's certainly no record of when he was 90 years old. and he was a prospering farmer them destroying other public buildings. in nova scotia, which is where approximately 2,800 of the refugees from the war of 1812 end up after the war as free people. >> thank you very much for being here. when as part of the coburn's so i wish there were more images operation and ross' operation, of course, was there the that survived and maybe those additional images will pop up. squadron under captain gordon but right now, this is our only which came, arc 16edded the chance to look at the face of potomac river, a rather someone who from the remarkable adventure in itself african-american community experienced the events that i've discussed today. and as they came up and before they engaged fort washington thank you very much. they sailed by mount vernon. [ applause ] the very symbol of america with george washington.

why didn't they just blow up mount vernon? so i'm happy to take any questions you may have. >> thank you very much. yes, please. tomorrow i'll be speaking in alexandria about that very [ inaudible question ] operation. the the reason they didn't blow >> yes. up mount vernon is because george washington was a liberal okay. hero. as far as british liberals on so i'll repeat the question. where do the british take the the left of politics was refugees at the end of the war? concerned. george washington was a very during the war, they are being significant figure in the creation of british democracy taken to tangier island, to and he taught the the british very good lessons about bermuda, which is a major british naval base and is the representation. they played wash wiington's mar central headquarters for the in his honor. operation in the chesapeake. the british were not making war other main british naval base in north america is at halifax, on on america. they were making war on the nova scotia. american government and half of so probably about 1,200 during the hpopulation in america were the war years are moved on to not enthusiastic about this war. nova scotia and then another they were not particularly engaged and they saw this was 1,600 are moved on to nova very much a partisan conflict scotia from bermuda or from the within america and they very sea islands of georgia where the carefully targeted those british also operated at the americans that believed to be

very end of the war. the causes of the war and hence so we're getting about 2,800 who the use of the individualist. go to nova scotia. george washington is off limits and he's part of the history of we've got another approximately britain and america and remember 360 who go to new brunswick, he's an officer in george's army another of the maritime first and he is spared as are provinces. almost all public buildings that and probably about 1,000, the british can spare. including most of the colonial marines who go to the west thank you. indian island of trinidad. and in trinidad they have their most successful experience. >> why don't you go first? >> at one point was part of the and they manage to maintain distinct communities in a british war aimed for concluding distinct identity. the conflict to create some sort of a nato-american territory in professor algore talked about the old northwest and what identity formation in her happened to that for it to go presentation. status quo a amerinte? identity formation, this particular community in trinidad has maintained its cohesion and >> the british war's position on the peace treaty was not they call themselves to this day entirely unified. the british minister who was the mericans, to distinguish most involved in running the war, the secretary of state for war was also responsible for themselves from the many other peoples of color in trinidad. british colonies and his view so they dropped the "a."

was that it would be a really they turned the "c" into a "k." good idea if we could build a and they're merikins and a fair number of them have subsequently buffer zone in north america to reduce the possibility of future become immigrants either in conflict and the native-american england or in the united states. but they are still very proud people were seen as an ideal about being merikins. opportunity to do this and his yes? colleagues disappeared vehemently and they spent 10 million a area. >> [ inaudible ] the british was integrated. the international lawyers so why didn't the royal navy ÷ started to look at the problems of creating a buffer zone which that it arguably should have belonged to a people who had no learned in the chesapeake? >> well, the british do. so the british forces in the residential qualifications and did not have any national chesapeake include two regiments of -- from the west indies. identity and at law it would the black west indian regiments. have been almost impossible to have createded a territory to so the british are really in the give to the native americans. forefront of employing people of color in their military. they do so in india and they there was certainly no framework to do this. also do so in the west indies. they did not recognize the rights of native peoples which so two-thirds of the british is how you're able it on sweep force in the west indis were right west across the will whole actually black people when the

war of 1812 begins. of continent and there was no the united states is extremely framework. it was an idea and it was used as a way of pushing the americans away from talking reluctant to employ even free blacks in its military. about maritime rights. it does so in the navy and the the british put something up privateers, so free black americans make a major which they had no intention of trying to execute because it was contribution to the u.s. war effort in the navy and the in choate. there was no particular form you could give this. there was a line somewhere out privateers, but they are not in the northwest, but it was allowed in the u.s. army until never determined what that line the very end of the war when was and who was inside it and policy suddenly changes because how it would be policed and it was a great negotiating position the united states is basically because it made the americans on the ropes militarily and is think it won something. desperate for men. it made the americans worry the only place where a about something which they didn't care about and they got significant number of black men maritime rights off the treaty are employed in the united table. so it's a nice way of everyone states army is at new orleans by andrew jackson. there are two battalions of free feeling they'd won something and there was no way this was set up blacks were employed and and we would have had to have probably another battalion of agreed, washington and london on the native american people were enslaved people who are promised their freedom but andrew a nation that had a national jackson. identity rather than being

tribal people spread across the this employment outraged the local whites of louisiana. countryside in a different way. so andrew jackson is going out on a limb and he's a slaveholder >> question? >> there is a william charles, himself in tennessee, but this shows you how desperate he was cartoon or pair of cartoons and for men to fend off this british they're condemning theal attack which included black exandrin rhians for provisioning soldiers. the british fleet. i wonder if you could comment on unfortunate, or fortunate, whatever side you want to put, unfortunate or fortunate on in that? >> william charles, the famous cartoonist who makes fun of t theal exandrin rhians and he this war, jackson wins big-time lived and worked in alexandria and he was british, but and then he reneges on his promise to the black soldiers. obviously a british republican. his cartoon is very much the he promised them freedom and then said, sorry, you're not republican view of theal going to be freed because i exandrin rhians which was very really don't have that power. unpleasant and he then used the yes? >> thank you for a superb baltimore cartoon as a way of presentation. showing that the british could >> thank you. be beaten. they just decided they didn't >> clifford from warrenton, virginia. i question the effectiveness of want it. a 1,000 broadside circulation to >> if you want to start baltimore, we can do it. there are 20,000 americans that a population that cannot read by dug in in a very strong position reality, the effectiveness of their inability to read. at baltimore. >> they have less than 4,000 and i also question the notion

ground roops and how are they going to get into baltimore? that white virginians, the british didn't have another marylanders, would discuss the army so if they burned well army circulation of this broadside to their enslaved people. can you address that? they had no more troops left. >> with alexandria the picture >> yes, i can. two very good questions. is quite clear. one is, there is much greater literacy among the slaves in john bull who is a truly this period of time than i think we've recognized. terrible mythic beast and has this is probably the peak period the the citizens of alexandria for literacy among enslaved people. on their knees with their hair a couple of reasons. standing up on end as you would if you saw a real monitor, but one is, it's not illegal yet to the british sailors are saying teach slaves to read and write we need to get out of of here in virginia. before the the naval american that will become illegal in heroes turn up. john rogers and david porter and oliver perry, of course, they did turn up and they tried to stop the british leaving, but they failed and the british got back after exchanges of fire and it's an important political cartoon and you have to read it as a partisan cartoon. it's just like the shannon and chesapeake cartoon. it's one side of the argument and it's an internal cartoon and

has no resonance with theity brish at all and this is the republicans pointing the the river of the -- and the score is now even, this last weekend the city of alexandria challenged the royal navy to three sporting events and the city won all three. [ applause ] >> i'm very pleased to hear that, but the score in frigates were three each and as they took three of the prizes home, and the americans got theirs home i think we get that been on point. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> here are some highlights of this common weekend. today live on c-span, the nebraska spoushlg will hear oral

argument on the keystone excel pipeline and saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the communicators, michael cops and robert mcdowell with campaign 2014 gearing up, watch the latest debates on c-span. sunday at noon, debates between incumbent senator kay hagan and tom tillis and from the california governor's race, democratic incumbent jerry brown and republican nominee neil kashkari. what little effect it has on the behave areio of powerful nations. mike gonzalez and how he thinks republicanings can make gains for the hispanic vote at 10:00 p.m. eastern and sunday at noon, our three-hour conversation and your phone calls with the u.s. commission on civil rights. tonight at 8:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span3. authors and historians talk about the burning of washington during the war of 1812.

saturday on real america, the building of the hoover dam and sunday night at 8:00, the anniversary of president gerald ford's pardon of richard nixon. find the television schedule of c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. call us at 202-626-3400 and send us a tweet @c123. join the c-span conversation, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> with live coverage of the u.s. house on c-span and the senate on c-span2, here on c-span3 we compliment that coverage by showing outmost relevant congressional hearing and public affairs events and on weekends c-span3 is the home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation's story including six unique series. the civil war's 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. american artifacts and touring museums to discover what artifacts reveal about america's past.

history bookshelf with the best known american history writers. the presidency and looking at the policies and leg cease of our nation's commanders in chief. top college professors delving into america's past. real america featuring archival government and real education films from the 1930s through the '70s. c-span3 created by your cable tv industry. watch us in hd. like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> now more from the symposium on the british burning of washington, d.c., during the war of 1812 hosted by the white house historical society, the u.s. capital historical society and james madison's mount pellier. next, katherine algor describes a perfect union, dolly madison and the creation of the american nation. it's 35 minutes.

>> america under fire, mr. madison's war and the burning of washington city. for those of you who may be just joining us, if you have one of these little devices, if you could make sure it's turned off or in the silent mode that would be fantastic. upon so i have the pleasure now of introducing dr. katherine algore and she's going to tackle james madison's other half and some of us say his better half, dollynd she's going to tackle j madison's other half and some of us say his better half, dolly madison. katherine has written several important book osdoly including a perfect union, dolly madison and the creation of the american nation and most recently she edited an important memoir written by dolly madison's niece. katherine is the director of education at the huntington art library, art collection's botanical gardens and professor of history at the university of california riverside. today she will describe the republican queen's identity during the war. when dolly madison's drawing room and her events were known

as squeezes they were so popular. i've also heard that she's going to mention the roll of snuff in the war of 1812 and i would encourage you to take a look at dolly madison's snuff box which is over at decatur house. we just brought that up from montpelier today and it's on a rare visit to washington d.c., so go take a look at that snuff box and with that teaser, please join me in welcoming dr. katherine algore. [ applause ] >> thank you so much for that lovely introduction. i am just tempted to say forget about my speech. let's go look at the snuff box, but no, no, no. i am very happy and honored to be here with such a distinguished set of scholars and if i may say, an even more distinguished and lovely audience. thank you so much to bill and to the white house historical association. to the u.s. capitol historical

society and james madison's montpelier for asking me and getting me here and thanks to the huntington library for giving me the day off. the slogan don't give up the ship the figure of of uncle sam, the star-spangled banner, the proliferation of symbols that emerged from the the war of 1812 constitutes a paradox,y this as this conference demeanor straights, much recent scholarships on the conduct and leg cease of the war has produceded fresh insights about the costs and gains of the war and even the combatants. at the time the treaty of gent was signed americans understood that peace gave them little in policy, international power or territory. so on the one hand it it seems contradictory that such a wealth of symbolism emerged out of such a reckless endeavor.

on the other hand the very futile nature of the war may have precisely accounted for symbolic booty. the victory that contemporary americans and many later historians claimed was a psychological one. as a member of the peace delegation albert observed, quote, the war has the feelings and character which were daily lessening. he said the war made citizens feel more americans, they feel and act more as a nation, and i hope the permanency of the union is thereby better secured. so appreciating both sides of this paradox may explain the national energy that took an account of a fairly mundane battle and set it to the tune of an old drinking song and made a national anthem. some of the images to emerge from the war of 1812 are those of dolly madison facing down the

enemy, pleaing the burning capital, saving the gilbert stewart portrait and otherwise demonstrating heroism under fire. what i'm arguing to you today is that part of the reason that dolly's american audience seized upon these images endowing them with a historical heft that would propel them through the centuries. we all know these images is that they were really a culmination of a process and the the process was dolly's construction of a political identity and she began when she was the wife of the secretary of state in 1801. and she had no idea, of course, what was going to be happy 12 to 14 years later and it turns out that what she did was precisely right. this idea of constructing an identity is one of the most rich and fruitful historical inkwurys in the last 50 years and there is a whole literature on identity and it's far too wide

and varied to be summarized here, but at the risk of oversimplification, here are commonalities to the identity-constructioning process. identity making can can occur at the individual level, a simg person and at a larger collective level and they operate both at the same time. they can be consciously or unconsciously and these dynamics about identity mark the awa awareness and manipulation of itself which makes it a modern phenomenon and people are becoming aware of selves. in viewing dolly's political construction you can see a lot of tenets of identity theory at play so as just a person of retirement plays she was offered and accepted probably unconsciously the roles divided by her culture and those roles were southerner, lady, political hostess along with the more common roles of wife and mother.

dolly added elements from european and royal cultures, however to create her republican queen. a persona which she deployed to political affect. dolly's position as queen dolly resulted in her ascension of the charismatic figure of the administration and it became that in 1809, buts it would be enhanced by the outbreak of war. in the historical search for dolly's cry asieation of this republican queen, the sources don't lie in will dolly's own words. she's not discussed her work that way in her private correspondence. for evidence we must rely on the many descriptions of dolly that were supplied by those who saw her or met her especially at her famous wednesday night drawing rooms. generally the descriptions of dolly that pepper the letters and newspaper reports of the early republic had been regarded

by historians as a form of color commentary and not the least because they're actually quite colorful. men and women reported back home on what dolly wore, served, how she moved and how she treated people, but we have to look at these descriptionses not just as mere celebrity mentions. the people who regarded dolly so minutely were members of the ruling elite and ordinary americans and europeans invested in the republican experiment. what they were looking for in how she looked and how she behaved, they were looking for signs and clues about the madisons themselves, maybe a specific political event about the the declaration of war and even for the fate of the republic. so there is a lot at stake for these descriptions. after the american revolution at a time of flux and change with very few real political structures in place. these new americans folks used

on the persons of their leaders and the number one person they subjected their attention was george washington. in the early republic, people transferred this capacity to dolly. to them, dolly symbolized the heart of the madison administration, but also the true character. in political theory, the charismatic figure is a person who can convey abstract, psychological and emotional messages to large groups of people. although the psychological aspect is important to any political -- and indeed there are some who say that all politics are psychological and it was especially important in the infant early republic that influenced the way americans felt and that was key to the survival of the nation. especially historians from women's lives and gender has revealed that the early u.s.

government and the political culture that it it spawned was much more dependent on royal forms of rule than they ever previously thought. the newly liberated columnist turned citizens, it seems not only had an appetite for aristocracy. they craved the legitimacy and authority conveyed by the only vocabulary of power they knew so the founding men even as they were putting together a new nation along the line of what they called pure republicanism that they pound they might actually need the trappings of an authoritarian aristocracy to command respect and to assure the people that the right kind of people were ruling them. now this is a tricky balance to achieve. how much was too much in the quest to repurpose the old vocabulary of of aristocracy to convey the legitimacy of the national experiment and perhaps federalists such as washington and john adams would have freely

brought back the artist kratic evidence and the ones that would be republican followers of thomas jefferson uponed nothing to do with the old world and kept a sharp eye out for as they would have called it encroaching aristocracy. so as it turned out, this aristocracy/republican balance came down on one side or the other on a lot of different ways. one of the ways they played out as issues of power often do was on the field of gender. so in the end, the women of the ruling elite were of given the task of con vague the aristocratic message to the masses and ironically, because they were considered private they had more latitude than men did to do that. the genius of this persona that i'm talking about, the republican queen was that it made a bold declaration on this issue mixing extremes on both

sides for maximal effect so dolly combined a regional persona which seemed down right democratic and put it to use at social events. report after report described her regal bearing and fantastical costumes as dolly presided over her drawing room. over and over her guests cautioned her demeanor is so far removed from the generally attended on royalty that her fancy could carry the resemblance no further than the headdress. she was a queen, many proclaimed her that, but as samuel latham mitchell, the new york congressman said she was a queen of hearts. james had employed dolly's personifying gifts during the difficult decision to declare war and how he did this allowed him to hold the warhawks at bay while he weighed options for peace. it's during this time that dolly and henry clay make several noted unpublicized appearances

thus sig matching to watchers, political watchers that though james could not embrace the waro hint of sexual impropriety in the stories that circulated about dolly and henry clay unless one counts the symbol of sharing a snuff box. we went a different way here, cats. there we go. all right. both dolly and henry clay shared their addiction to the substance. and dolly's public sharing of her snuff box with clay was read by all as a sign of henry clay's favor within the madison administration. like many, sarah gell seaton thought taking snuff a bad habit. she admitted in dolly's hands the snuff box, quote, seems only a gracious implement with which to charm. political commentator and writer

margaret baird smith saw it as, quote, a most magical influence. in soothing savage political. who could partake of its content offered them in a manner so cordial and gracious and retain a feeling to the interests of the bestower. in this way, she had him on a political string as it were while james decided what to do. dolly's persona was firmly in place when the u.s. congress declared war on u.s. britain in june 1812. shortly after the declaration, the president was in what we moderns would call a public relations nightmare. though the people of the time do not have the vocabulary, they recognized his dilemma as such. virginia representative william burrwell worried to his wife that, quote, the difficulties of his situation have increased in

a great degree. as far as burwell was concerned, madison's only hope lay in influencing public sentiment by some brilliant achievement. that's not a bad thought. but unfortunately for james madison, the war went badly right from the beginning so the madisons' chance for a brilliant achievement lay with dolly who took her symbolizing capacity to a new level. her brilliant achievements were not the dramatic stuff of military victories and battles at sea. their excuse and effects were subtler, if as significant. dolly's wartime efforts intensified her pre-war work. she had always used her social circles to bring people together in large gatherings, which allowed them to fulfill their own political goals while fulfilling the madisons' political goal of unity. in the first congressional season after the declaration, dolly began her social campaign

early returning to the capital after only one week at montpeliar. anxious for the fate of the war only. throughout the war, she gave more parties than ever before and it's interesting you read her letter, she uses a phrase i find very telling about these parties. she calls them the routine of gaiety. which i think hints at what it took to produce these brilliant scenes as people call them. as kat said before the war, her drawing room became known as squeezes because they were crammed into the oval room. but wartimes wednesdays housed up to 500. that first month of the congressional season after the declaration, dolly's butler left her for france and told her cousin and james' personal secretary edward coles, i am acting in his department and the city is more than ever crowded with strangers my head is dizzy.

no one was more visible at her parties than queen dolly. though, personally, she was as partisan as any man in congress because she was a woman, dolly could be seen as politically neutral. men of parties had interests dictated by their political needs. but women could be disinterested simply patriotic for their own sakes. her work transcended her political affiliation. since men were associated with one party or the other, no male, not even the president could represent the united states. because, of course, in theory as a woman, she was above politics, dolly could appear to the american public and european observers as a larger than life embodiment of disinterested patriotism and nation. during the war of 1812, dolly became not just the charismatic figure for james madison but for america.

now her famed abilities to draw people to her had an urgent, larger purpose. her mission was to convey to the capital and to the country that the government was working and that the war was being conducted well. she presented a picture of calm optimism and unquestioning support. military troops had begun honoring her by parading past her house when she was the wife of the secretary of state. now they march by the white house to be reviewed by her. and she did so as a general would. dolly then invited the soldiers in and served them refreshments, quote, giving liberally of the best of the house. she made a lot, perhaps too much of the few military victories that came to the united states' way and of the men responsible. and as i think dr. lambert said earlier, the biggest surprise of the war was how well the navy performed. and now that we know how little

it really got them, it's really amazing what dolly made of it. as you heard from the naval campaign, the american forces captured the british ships, and the offices presented the captain ship's colors or the flags to dolly in very public ceremoni ceremonies. as the president and secretary edward coles arranged the first of these presentations, in a culture where intelligence traveled slowly, such displays were a welcome source of good news, both informing the public what had happened and heartening them. and dolly was very conscious of this honor paid to her and the country during the presentation of the macedonian's colors, noted the flush of pride and patriotism that -- she said i saw her color come and go. as always, dolly's visibility cut both ways, and her position as a disinterested patriot did not go unquestioned.

political enemies tried to turn events against her. in particular, a federalist congressman spread stories of dolly defiantly stamping on the colors laid before her, thus tarnishing the united states world reputation. so he said, an englishman in the city hearing this report basically observed that charlotte, meaning the queen of great britain would not have done so with the american colors. discussing this incident later in life, dolly denied making such a gesture and, indeed, the story seems unlikely. such a public display of negativity seems out of character for a woman of such control and consciousness, and also the fact that it was the federalists spreading the story around, the story seems suspicious. according to dolly, when the men have been carrying the flag to her by the coroners, and this is according to her niece, the motive has been much questioned.

according to dolly, it was another lady crying out, trample on it, trample on it. and dolly drew back saying, oh, no, not so. while the lady advanced and put her foot on it. as the war advanced, the fears of invasion among the district's residents grew. it did not help matters when those in the capital began to hear tales of civilian intimidation wrought by the commander of naval operations, sir george coburn. dolly's job as the face of the war became even more crucial. she might write privately to her cousin edward coles about the atmosphere of fears and alarms. she was afraid. but the populous looked to her and found reassurance. our friend william burrwell from virginia, right before invasion, wrote to his wife again saying i assure you, i do not believe there's the smallest cause for alarm. and what was his proof?

it was his proof of how the ladies were reacting led by dolly. i do not perceive the least alarm among the women. they perceive the ample means to defend them and are well aware of their safety. so in her role as a stand-in for her husband, dolly madison attracted both positive and negative attention. during the summer of 1813, coburn fed the rumors of invasion by threatening her. while relating to edward, the details of the plot where in british rogues were to land at alexandria under the cover of darkness and set fire to the white house. dolly confessed. i do not tremble at this but feel affronted that the admiral should send me notice that he would make his bow at my drawing room soon. surely her bravado was a bit of a pose. the panic in washington city

abated somewhat when coburn did not attack in the summer of 1813. but the panic returned stronger than ever the next year and turns out, of course, they were absolutely right to panic. the invasion began in the early mornings of august 19th, 1814, 4,000 landed at benedict, maryland, and the main port of the river. couriers brought the news to the capital, including admiral coburn's boast that he intended to dine in washington in two days. dolly remained coburn's rhetorical focus as he, quote, sent word to mrs. madison that unless she left, the house would be burned over her head. and notice, he doesn't mention james in this, nor does he include james in the other threat, which is to capture her as a prisoner of war and parade her through the streets. on august 23rd, james left the white house in order to review the troops in the field and the national intelligence reported the rumor that 5,000 or 6,000

troops had joined the force already in maryland and this really panicked washington signaling a mass exodus. alone in the white house except for her servants and slaves, dolly was poised to make her name in history. now, the story that we know of dolly's most famous day and the subsequent crafting of historical legacy will be examined tomorrow by holly schulman in this program. i will conclude by saying, it was a direct result of this experiment and identity making that rendered her the queen of washington city long before the first shots were fired in the war of 1812. if at the end of the war and dr. lambert talked about this. most americans understood that the victory was psychological. then dolly's symbolizing work made that sense of victory possible. thank you very much.

>> thanks so much. oh, and now's my favorite time, questions and answers. as we said, we have a microphone there. and i think maybe somebody traveling around with the mike. but does anyone have questions? yes? and let's see if we can get you a mike. i'll tell you what, why don't you ask a question, i'll repeat it. >> okay. how much of dolly's performance was dictated by her husband's inability to say yes or no? and where 30 words could do. >> right. this is a question about contrasting dolly's performance with james' performance or nonperformance, if you will. a lot has been made of the contrast between dolly madison and james madison.

she is this sort of tall, shapely, vivacious woman, never forgets a name, a face or a family pedigree proving her a true southerner. warm and lovely and all that and, of course, everybody likes to make fun of james madison, washington irvin -- he's seen as, you know, all kinds of famous quotes about him. and i don't want to load up on james madison with the president here. but there's -- there's two things, so it's easy to make that contrast. and, of course, they're a great team. but there's two things, i think, we have to remember. he is an intellectual. james madison is a pure intellectual. and like many of the founders, he constructed a lovely theory on which to run a government. i'm going to tell you that theory is not going to work. it's going to become a democracy in about 30 years, and it's going to be two parties and pretty much their vision of the republic is going to fade away. they don't know this at that time. and what dolly madison did along

with her other female colleagues is endeavor to take this lovely theory, this lovely machine of government and put it into action. and by putting into action, discovering its strengths and weaknesses. so, for instance, in the lovely theory that james madison has, there's no place for anything, you know, aristocratic or anything like that. no patronage, which is the hallmark of courts. well, you can't really run a government that way. and it's dolly and her colleagues that begin to build the first patronage machines in washington, d.c. borrowing from royal courts in order to make this theory work. that's something. so you understand that when everybody's describing dolly and how fabulous she is and she's like a queen. they're also describing james in a positive way. that is by saying, look at this guy. there's no way he is going to be the charismatic male figure that we fear in a republic. that was the big fear. that somebody like george washington with his sword and

over 6 feet, he was going to take over and become an emperor. napoleon, he was a charismatic figure. there are great contrasts for people of the time. here's quiet little james madison and his, you know, republican broadcloth, he's not a threat to anybody. whereas, dolly, not a threat because she's a woman, appears and gives everybody this kind of authority that royalty imparts. the other thing i want to say about them. they are two different people. intellectual, not intellectual, introvert. they are both abhorrent to conflict. striving to his goal and national unity. and everything she does publicly, you can see her enacting his goal. for all they looked so different, they have values in common. sometimes that worked out well for them, and sometimes it didn't. but it was something profound that they shared.

yes? helen? >> i get very frustrated when i hear descriptions of madisons that are demeaning to him. and i think one of the reasons might have been because the men who said it were jealous of him. and i think when you think that she was probably the most well known and admired woman of her generation, if he was as unattractive and unassuming and quiet and his tummy hurt, how did he win the most popular and beautiful woman of his day? >> so we're talking about -- >> and kept her until she was in her 80s and she was still in love with him. what man in here can say something like that? >> oh, my lord. i do not want to see a show of hands. well, now, this is interesting. you got right to it. there are all of these terrible descriptions of james, they're awful and of course they're all political. and people were probably jealous because he was the smartest guy in the room. why did at 26 years old, dolly

payne todd, a widow with a son and a little bit of money choose james madison to marry? in fact, she chooses him so quickly that it's a shame people are so shocked she gets married within the year after her husband dies in the yellow fever e endemic. and actually, we have evidence that she was swept away by him, but little evidence this was love's young dream. the one thing we sort of have is a letter written on her wedding day which basically justifies her marriage to james as being good for her son and she signs the letter to her friend dolly todd, her maiden name and then once she's married, she writes dolly madison alas. we don't know what that's about. we do know they fall in love at some point. that happens after marriage, people. and they become -- but the question is, why did she choose him? she could've had her pick of anyone. and my theory that -- you know, this is where we wish our sources would write in a

convenient time and place for historians. she had grown up in the world of slave holding in the virginia gentry. and she might have had very golden memories of her childhood. no doubt enhanced by the fact that her father freed his -- about nine slaves. and because of conscience. and when she's 15, moves the family to philadelphia. which is very cold compared to anything -- he wanted to be in the center of the quaker world. so by the time she's 26 and considering marriage to james madison, she's been up north for ten years and terrible things have happened. there's a yellow fever epidemic, loses her husband, loses her child. he dies, probably of a depression. all of her brothers, i think, all of them are dead by that point. it was terrible in philadelphia. terrible time. so, i think, that there's a part of her that looked at this quite likely man and thought, i could go back to that place.

of my childhood. and, in fact, go back at a higher sort of station because she'd be the mistress of montpeliar. now the part we didn't think about, what about the idea of returning to a slave-holding state mean to her? now, she was just a virginia miss, you could say well, she didn't think about it. but she, her parents were quakers. there was a lot of discussion about slavery and abolition sort of ahead of its time. her father gave the slaves freedom because of this. and that was the reason she ended up in philadelphia. so i don't know if she had qualms about returning to a slave-holding society or whether she went without a back ward glance. but some day, somebody east going to find a trunk of letters and they're going to tell me what i need to know. >> jefferson said he was the most brilliant speaker along with pendleton that he'd ever heard. so he is not a quiet little man -- >> james madison was a

formidable intellect. and we have to take these descriptions for what they are, politics. this is the biographer of james madison. >> somewhere around there, i'm going to see the great little madison? >> right. so, i have to say, this is -- yes, of course madison is famous, so dolly madison, when she meets james madison, she's in the capital of the united states at that point in philadelphia and congress is there. and she has heard of what she'd call the great little madison -- i have to say that -- i just have to acknowledge you, but also the savior of many of dolly's papers. so when ralph was doing his wonderful biography of madson, he would note where he saw a dolly paper here and there. and people keep women's papers differently than they keep mens. it was wonderful to have. one of the papers that came out that exists now only in microfilm, thanks to you, is a version of the memoir written by

dolly's niece mary cutz. and i use the memoir this way because most of the stuff in the memoir happens before she's even born. we kind of think of it as the closest autobiographical voice to dolly we have. and that's the source of the great little madison. yes. he's definitely famous. yes. sir, you're standing there. good for you. >> i'm by the mike. >> you are. >> dolly is first lady for eight years during madison's administration. >> yes. >> jefferson is a widower in the previous eight years, and james monroe who serves the next eight years after madison, his wife is somewhat limited in her ability to be in the public eye. so could you talk about how dolly -- does her role as first lady expand into either one of those administrations? >> yes. so this is a question about dolly and her role as first lady. first, i've got to tell you, i would pity anybody who followed dolly madison. she was an act to follow.

and sadly for elizabeth monroe. it was noted by people. louisa adams went on to say, she's just not mrs. monroe. once you understand this tension between it, you can see the united states wrestling with it. so when elizabeth monroe comes, she tries to set things on a more formal set of footing, ceremony and footing as they would say with not great success. she didn't have that touch where dolly could really blend those two absolutely. and i also have to say, and i owe this to holly schulman, we talked about this and she absolutely right. too much has been made of the fact that thomas jefferson was a widower and that people said that dolly madison served as a stand-in for him. and it is true that when they were ladies at table, he would ask dolly and sometimes her

sisters to come in, though he had an official hostess, which was his daughter, martha jefferson randolf. but concentrating or thinking about dolly is a sort of waiting in the wings for that invitation from the president's mansion obscures the fact that what she was really doing during those years. so thomas jefferson, you know, feared aristocracy. he cut out any kind of real socializing including the new year's day -- new year's and fourth of july, that was it no parties. and he had those famous dinner parties with men of one party or another because he was trying to control power. what was happening, however, over on s street in the house of the secretary of state during those eight years is that dolly is building a little mini empire there. that's the place in washington. if it came to washington on an evening, you'd see the white house all dark up there, but the

house on s street full of life and control. and that's where the federalists met republicans and the ambassadors. this was -- she was building a political there. and that becomes most apparent when jefferson insults so much that diplomacy from great britain and the united states screeches to a halt. but the marys eat at the madisons' house. it's important to look at those thomas jefferson years not as a stand-in first lady, but she's building a power base. and it's no wonder that when james madison is elected, the people of the town say they're very happy to have mrs. madison as president. i think one more question so we can stay on time. yes, sir? >> the criticism of madison, wasn't it simply the unfortunate circumstance of succeeding thomas jefferson who was certainly more colorful and more authoritative. so something like truman succeeding fdr that people who liked fdr looked at -- like

because he seems colorless in relation to his predecessor. >> right. so the question is about poor james madison suffering comparison to the tall, redheaded thomas jefferson. i really, actually, think though i'm sure there's always something that in this milieu, it could have been anybody that would've gotten it. the republican party at that time was suffering what -- suffering the decision of the victors. which is infighting. with thomas jefferson sort of sweeping into town with this new party, the federalists were really on their way out and they were going to let go without a fight, but they were on their way out. so instead of kind of holding together and katherine mitchell, the wife of samuel latham mitchell say why do they keep fighting? they're trying to pull and splinter with him. james madison's greatest enemies were his fellow republicans. so, thank you very much.

tonight on "american history tv" in prime time, we'll show you more of the speakers from the symposium on the british burning of washington, d.c. and the war of 1812, including kenneth bowling author of the creation of washington, d.c., the idea and location of the american capital. pamela scott, author of buildings of the district of columbia. william seale talks about his book, and andrew berstein and coauthors of "madisons and jefferson" tonight beginning on c-span 3. coverage of the speakers at the symposium on the british burning of washington, d.c. during the war of 1812 continues with alan taylor, the author of "the civil war of 1812," it's 55

the great pleasure of introducing dr. alan taylor. he joins us, thomas jefferson chair in american history tv at the university of virginia. this is a new role for dr. taylor. his previous two decades with the university of california at davis he is a very distinguished scholar of the war 1812 and wrote the book "the civil war of 1812" which really looks at that engagement in great detail. but, recently, and very exciting for us who live in virginia, he published the national book award and pulitzer prize winning, the internal enemy, slavery in the war in virginia, 1772 to 1832. and it really looks at the war of 1812 with such a different lens. alan's groundbreaking work, the scholarship which highlights this understudied story.

particularly the run away slaves who sought their freedom by joining with british forces. it's just something i think is very intriguing. and alan, we want to learn so much more so please come forward, and let's hear about this new story of the war. >> thank you, for that kind introduction. and i'm grateful for you and lessy fles leslie and your hard work and the association and to james madison for bringing all of us together today. i want to introduce some characters who tend to be bit players in the usual story of the war of 1812. and to try to make a case that they were much more than bit players. and i want to begin with one of them, a man named willis, we

don't know his last name because enslaved people were denied in the public record last names in virginia in this period of time. he was 14 years old when he first escaped with his master's plantation in virginia. and he escaped from princess anne county, which is down in the vicinity of where you would find virginia beach today. it's july of 1807, he was 14 years old and he stole a boat and he rode out to a british warship. anchored in nearby lynn haven bay. now, he expected a warm welcome from the british because war then seemed imminent. this was in the immediate wake of the british attack on the american uss chesapeake, which

came very close to igniting war five years before the war of 1812. initially, the british mariners did feed and welcome and clothe willis and four other refugees who also stole boats to get away to the british. but a month later, the british captain forcibly sent all of them back to their masters in a bid to defuse tensions with the americans. but remarkably, instead of dwelling on that betrayal, willis later recalled that he, quote, had been to the british once and that they treated him well and he wished his master had let him remain, end quote. and in 1814 after war did break out in earnest, willis had much better luck fleeing again to a british warship along with, quote, many other negroes in the neighborhood, end quote. and this time, he remained free.

now, willis' persistence demonstrated the persistent allure of the british as potential liberators among the slaves of the tide water region of virginia and maryland. for example, in july 1814 in calvert county, maryland, a farmer sought water by visiting a spring. he noted a group of slaves already there. and so the farmer hid behind a tree, and he overheard, quote, the negroes belonging to the said john j. brooke for the different british admirals, end quote. two days later, three of those cheering slaves fled to the warships. now, the argument i want to make today is that by their enthusiasm for the british as potential liberators, the enslaved people of the chesapeake made it so. flocking to them in unanticipated numbers that would

by early 1814 compel a major rethinking of british strategy in the chesapeake. at the start of their first chesapeake campaign in 1813, the british officers were under orders to take on no more than a few black men and only men who could be useful as pilots and guides. but a year later, in 1814, they would seek and entice hundreds of run aways, including women and children. and including willis. so like willis, the other run aways would not take no for an answer. now, professor lambert gave a very nice introduction of the reluctance of the british to engage in this war. and they were slow to wage the war with great vigor because

they hoped it would end pretty quickly in its first year. and so it's only in the second year of the war in 1813 that they send a major expedition into chesapeake bay, with the purpose of punishing the states of virginia and maryland. from a perception that those two states were the heartland of american resources and also the political home, principally in virginia of the governoring republican party, which the british quite rightly blamed for making this war. so the british purpose in coming into chesapeake bay in 1813 is initially not to free any slaves. of any significant numbers. their job is to punish the americans who lived along the shores of the chesapeake. to do so primarily by raiding shipping that was vulnerable to

this supremacy, which was overwhelming on chesapeake bay. and secondarily, to raid exposed and vulnerable villages along the major waterways. what the british are very reluctant to do is to go into the interior. they were fearful of the very dense forests that surrounded the chesapeake. they feared being ambushed, american riflemen. they didn't know where an attack might be coming from. and they didn't know in what numbers, and they simply did not know the lay of the land. and that's very inhibiting on the british. and when you read the letters of their captains and their admirals during 1813, they are full of mystery and fear about the interior. just a mile or two beyond where they could make their landings. so they're very skittish, and they're not all that effective. so despite the miseries that

they do inflict on a fair number of americans during the campaign of 1813, that campaign closes with a sense of frustration by british naval commanders in the chesapeake. they have not achieved their principal goal, which was to make life so miserable for the people of virginia and maryland that their government would call off their invasion of canada. far from it. the united states is planning yet again to pursue an invasion of canada in 1814 despite the failures of their invasion attempts in 1812, in 1813. another problem that the british had that had inhibited them from being agretszive in going ashore is that they were fearful that

their own men would desert. the royal navy had a problem, it was shorthanded. and shorthanded because the navy is very large and as andrew lambert pointed out, england -- or i should say the british isles are not particularly large in populous places. and maintaining of global navy was a major challenge. and to do so at an unprecedented scale, the royal navy is larger than it's ever been before in its history in 1813 and 1814. because of their war against napoleon on a global scale. and so, the ships that are center over into the chesapeake are shorthanded. and then they suffer the loss of further seamen. a few of them are combat deaths, and a few more of them are deaths from disease.

but there's also a significant loss by desertion. because sailors decide that wages are higher and alcohol is cheaper. in the united states. and the working conditions are whole lot better off in baltimore than they are on the british royal navy warship. now, i'm not saying here that most sailors deserted or that most sailors wanted to desert.