james monroe not as much. there was a lot there that i could use to get a sense of who he was and how he interacted with his compatriots. arizona state university was an excellent resource. the library of congress was an excellent resource. i tried to go to places like the hadron lutheran church. i got to spend a lot of time in virginia while i was writing. i was working on election there. it was wonderful to read trace the same stats and work in election in what used to be the fifth congressional district. the principal places. any other questions? this raceyou think was so overlooked by other stories? >> a great question. the problem was, it was historically he a significant. first of all thank you for not appreciating the significance of this race or writing about things that are more important. byanything it is book ended such consequence no that's consequential events on either side. washington is taking the oath of office. all is well. one of the things i tried to point out is that nothing is inevitable.

you had james monroe, who was secretary of state, he had come to scout out the lines. he had basically been serving as a scout for several days for madison even though he was secretary of state. he was pretty much throwing himself into danger's way, but he directs some of the militia troops to move further back from the front line, and this leads them out of support for each other. so monroe didn't really do the american troops at bladensburg much of a favor by his attempts to reorganize them. so you have two lines now of militia that are collapsing. they're all starting to retreat, but with no fixed point in mind. general winder hadn't saved -- or hadn't designated any kind of rally point. winder already had a lot of experience at retreating now just as the british had advanced on washington. he'd ordered his troops back a number of times, but he really botches this retreat. so as the maryland militia are falling back, a lot of them start heading north towards baltimore, others are heading towards georgetown, and really none of them are heading back to the third line

geo politic and causes of the war of 1812, british capture of the nation's capital, president james monroe'sctions and more. hosted by white house historical association, u.s. capital historical society and james madison's mondtpelier. co-host of the symposium. set to continue at 1:30, a couple minutes from now of the presenters today, first up kenneth bowling, author of the creation of washington, d.c., the idea and location of the american capital. he'll be followed by at 2:10 p.m. eastern pamela scott who wrote buildings of the district of columbia. also william seal, author of the president's house, a history. andrew bernstein and nancy eisenberg who co-wrote "madison and jefferson." all that ahead live this afternoon on c-span3 american history tv. a note that all of today's symposium on the war of 1812 and war of washington will reair tonight at 8:00 eastern again here on american history tv on c-span3. events should get starting in a few moments. we're live on c-span three. >> welcome back. as a reminder, c-span is still filming. thank you very much, c-span, by the way. you guys are g

enarkting in that way, he fuelled a bitter feud with the of 1812 and his replacement was originally james monroe who could handle the details of the war department and, of course, as monroe comes back into the war department after the british burned the public buildings in washington in august of 1814, but much of what monroe did was designed to position himself to become president in 1817. enarkting in that way, he fuelled a bitter feud with the secretary of war who ark which youly held the war for most of 1813 and 1814. the problem was armstrong wanted to be president in 1814. the problem was they never lost an opportunity to undercut each other. this was sort of a pattern of misconduct, this behavior, if you like, that culminated when the british attacked washington. on that occasion, some of you will note that armstrong declined to participate in the arrangement of him for the capital while monroe has been accused of medaling with the organization of the troops at the battle of blatansburg that probably facilitated the british advance on washington. and i feel most americans feel madison sho

to take advantage, he bought into james monroe, secretary of state. there are a number of reasons why he did this, but one of the reasons why he did it was that he had formed personal relationships with some of the british politicians who were expected to become ministers in the reconstruction of the british ministry. this was a window of opportunity that very soon closed. he never changed his father's ministers, despite what he felt about the man. for that reason, british policy toward the united states remained unchanged. now, he did make a sort of conciliatory gesture to the united states by sending madison to washington. madison knew that george iii's m ministers were not likely to ease up. as this prediction had come to pass, madison concluded he needed to have a much stronger resistance than he had in the past. how do we know this? we know this because an editorial in the administration newspaper -- oh, sorry. sorry about that. i wasn't looking behind me. there was an editorial in the administration newspaper, the newspaper that could have been

he was forced&e#(#tr'g 18 and his replacement initially was james monroe who could handle the detailsment. but much of?ir what monroe did n he was in the war department was designed to position himself to become president in 1817. in affecting in that way he fueled a very bitter feud with the secretary of war, a man named john armstrong of new york who actually held the war office for most of 1813 and 1814. &$q problem was armstrong also wanted to be president in 1817. as a consequence, neither armstrong nor monroe ever lost an opportunity to under cut each other throughout the war. this was sort of the patent of misconduct or behavior if you'd like that culminated when the british attacked washington on that occasion. some of you will know that armstrong declined to participate 100% in the arrangements for him at the capitol while monroe has been accused with meddling with the organization of the troops at the battle of dlbladendberg and think historians feel that he should have stopped this feud that he should have clamped down firmly on him or sacked one of these people involved. b

he was forced&e#(#tr'g 18 and his replacement initially was james monroe who could handle the detailstment. but much of?ir what monroe did n he was in the war department was designed to position himself to become president in 1817. in affecting in that way he fueled a very bitter feud with the secretary of war, a man named john armstrong of new york who actually held the war office for most of 1813 and 1814. &$q problem was armstrong also wanted to be president in 1817. as a consequence, neither armstrong nor monroe ever lost an opportunity to under cut each other throughout the war. this was sort of the patent of misconduct or behavior if you'd like that culminated when the british attacked washington on that occasion. some of you will know that armstrong declined to participate 100% in the arrangements for him at the capitol while monroe has been accused with meddling with the organization of the troops at the battle of dlbladendberg and think historians feel that he should have stopped this feud that he should have clamped down firmly on him or sacked one of these people involved.

but there's no evidence that anybody in the war department, or james monroe or john armstrong had the slightest idea that was a problem in the war. it was taic to officers like wynnefield scott who learned the hard way by nitty-gritty harsh experience what it took to train men under arms and, above all, to teach them not to run from the enemy as they did in the battle of bladensburg. now because of all these defects in the army it was always necessary to supplement with militia. and and if the regular army was not very well trained, the situation was far worse than state militias. the federal government had the authority to call the militias into national service under specified conditions. but it had no authority to impose uniform methods of training. those methods were left to the states and basically, the states did nothing about it in the early 19th century. despite the fact that presidents and secretaries of war said we have a problem here. congress refused. as a result, the worst fiascos that occurred in the war of 1812 are always associated with defects in the militia. one is t

but there was no evidence that anyone in the war department, either james monroe or john armstrong, hadthe slightest idea that this was a problem during the war. it would take officers like winfield scott who learned the hard way about what it took to train men. how they managed to treat them about the enemy. because of that, it was always necessary to supplement its numbers with militia.&/p&Ñ the situation was far worse than few militias. the federal government could call militias under specific conditions, but it had no authorization to give them training. those matters were left to the states, and basically the states did nothing about it in the early 19th century. despite the fact that the prisons said, we have our problems here. congress refused to address it. nevertheless, the fiascos that occurred in the war of 1812 are always associated with emotion. i'll give you two examples. one was the battle of queens heights in 1812 when they refused to cover over the niagara river to reinforce regular troops who had actually managed to gain a toehold on the canadian shore of the niagara r

and james monroe who serves the next eight years after madison, his wife is somewhat limited in her abilityo be in the public eye. so could you talk about how dolly her role as first lady expand in either one of those administrations? >> yes. so this is a question about dolly and her role as first lady. first, i would pity anybody who followed dolly madison. she was an act to follow. sadly for elizabeth monroe, people noted it. it was noted by people. and luisa katherine adams who would go on to follow miss monroe, she's just not dear dolly. once you understand there is this tension between aristocracy and republicanism or democracy, you can see the united states wrestling with it. so when eliz gettiabeth monroe with her polish from the continent, she tries to set things on a more formal set of footing, on ceremony and not great success. she didn't have that touch where dolly could really blend those tw.l@%3 absolutely. i also have to say -- i owe this to have to say and i owe this to holly, she'll be talking tomorrow, too much was made of the fact that thomas jefferson was a widower and do

to underscore that, james monroe who was wearing two hats at the time as secretary of state and secretaryf war. he writes that our finances are in a deplorable state. jefferson replies that money can be made out of nothing. what is going to save us is peace. the treaty of ghent concluded in 1814. most historians believe this ended as a draw. a good touch of irony is there was no mention of impressment of sailors. that was one of the reasons we got into this in the first place. our delegation is on the right. this painting, john quincy adams and next to him is albert gallatin. let's do a couple of conclusions and then we can do q&a. what was the direct cost of the war? $87 million was the cost. everything is relative. in today's terms, $1.25 billion. of the $73 million in long-term bonds, we did not raise all $73 million. remember the discounts we were giving. we only raised $60 million. at best gallatin and the other treasury secretaries barely managed the financing. loans, treasury notes, and bonds passed to finance the war. what happened in the end is they ballooned to deficits. they ha

you had james monroe, who was secretary of state, he had come to scout out the lines. he had basically been serving as a scout for several days for madison even though he was secretary of state. he was pretty much throwing himself into danger's way, but he directs some of the militia troops to move further back from the front line, and this leads them out of support for each ot

yet the press and individuals began to write about the house madison's successor james monroe moved intothe house late in 1817. on new year's day 1818, the world was invited to see the house. even the crew that had worked on it were given crackers and beer in the basement. they never had imagined it before. many, many came. when it looked exactly the same outside except for unfinished boarded up openings in the roof to allow for porticos that were planned. the interior was princely and regal. in effect, washington would have disapproved and jefferson abhorred. gold leaf french furniture, chandeliers, great mirrors and sumptuous upholsteries. it was a palatial symbol of the head of state. monroe's administration opened in the bright glow of what that time was called the era of good feelings. war was over. americans were in control. the british were gone and prosperity seemed everywhere. americans exploding ambitions it turned now to enterprise. the president believed that the cancer of rival political parties was over. well, the idea that the era of good feelings is spoken many ways is be

they had james monroe, secretary of state, he had come to scout out the lines. days for madison, secretary of state, he was pretty much throwingt'(9m hf into the danger's way, but he directs some of the militia troops to move further back from the front line, and this leads other, and monroe did not really do the american troops much of a favor by attempts to reorganize them. you have two lines now of militia, and they have general designated any kind of rally point. winder already had a lot of experience at retreating now, just as the british had advanced on washington. he ordered the troops back a number of time, but he really botches this retreat. as the militia follow back, a lot of them start heading north towards baltimore. and, really, none of them are line of defense, which is born by joshua barney and his navy men, and the district militia, which raced up from washingtontr6Ñ during the course of the morning in the terrible heat. in fact, the maryland militia commanders were not inform of the third line. no one told them joshua barney and the district mi

in the war of 1812, before the war begins, jefferson and james monroe are dreaming of this potential war as leading to the annexation of cuba and canada. this is kind of the fantasy of the ever expanding continent without thinking about the real realities of what it takes it deal with taking this land or conquering this land. but this was what they were very much invested in. unfortunately, for are mr. madison, he wasn't going to get canada, wasn't going to get cuba, he had to settle for baton rouge. where i happen to live right now. so it is a good thing. this baton rouge, if you don't know, came into the united states because it was based on a filibuster, undertaken by virginians as opposed to the new yorker, aaron ber are ar and hi ademocr attempt. the lone star flag of the west virginia -- west florida public later morphed into the better known texas flag. and madison was completely on board with this. he wasn't opposed to it. he was, like, we'll take advantage of this. while history is privilege, the role of the younger war hawks in congress, theirs is only part of one story. al

you had james monroe who was secretary of state. he had come to scout out the lines. he had basically been serving as a scout for several days for madison even though he was secretary of state he was pretty much throwing himself into danger's way. but he directs some of the militia troops to move further back to the front line and this leads them out of support for one another. monroe didn't really do the american troops at bladensburg much of a favor by his attempts to reorganize them. so you have two lines now of militia that are collapsing. they're all starting to retreat but with no fixed point in mind. general winder hadn't saved or hadn't -- hadn't designated any kind of rally point. winder already had a lot of experience at retreating now just as the british had advanced on washington. he had ordered his troops back a number of times, but he really botches this retreat. as the militia are falling back a lot start heading north towards baltimore, others north towards georgetown and none towards the third line of defense which has been formed by joshua barny and

and to take advantage of that possibility, he brought into his cabinet james monroe. there were a number of reasons he did this. but one reason was that monroe had previously served as the american minister in london and had formed some personal relations with some british politicians who were expected to become british ministers. now,this was a window of opportunity. the region never changed. and for that reason, british policy towards the united states remained unchanged. now, admittedly the region did make a conciliatory gesture to the united states by sending a new minister to washington in the summer of 1811. madison knew that george iii's old ministers were not likely to ease up. now this prediction should come to pass, madison concluded he should have a much stronger policy of resistance towards great britain than he has done in the past. now, how do we know this? we know this because of an editorial in the administration newspaper. oh, sorry. okay. all right. i wasn't looking behind me. yes. onwards and upwards. yes, how do we know this? because an editorial i

and to take advantage of that possibility, he brought into his cabinet james monroe. there were a number of reasons he did this. but one reason was that monroe had previously served as the american minister in london and had formed some personal relations with some british politicians who were expected to become british ministers. now,this was a window of opportunity. the region never changed. and, for that reason, british policy towards the united states remained unchanged.

>> peter's important point of james monroe, secretary of st e state, inserted himselfov into e chain of command right as the battle is about to begin. he moves the fifth maryland and some of the other regiments oplm further back so they couldn't support this front line. another important thing people f might want to know as a they loe at this map is that the first two lines of american defensemaned by maryland militia were never informed a third line was being formed behind them with joshua barney and districtr by lish sh militia. general winder fails to make that clear to even p commandersa front. there are so new orleans the co instructions on wherell they ar supposed to retreat to. this is one of the republicans the collapse of the initialphic lines up front was so catastrophic. if they retreated in a more the orderly fashion they could havey supported the very strong line n that barney had. but instead they just flee in a pell-mell fashion, some up i towards baltimore, some th georgetown, where the roadat wo. them. i think that goes to the point that this battle was not a phone g

officers say he was driving erratically in the area of james monroe highway. then he crashed into an embankment. he and his daughter were not injured. macfarlane was charged with dui and child endangerment the. >>> there are new calls today for a sweeping secret service overhaul after a shocking investigation into the aftermath of a shooting outside the white house. back on november 11th, 2011, a gunman fired several shots at the white house. the "washington post" reports it took the secret service four days to realize the white house was hit seven times. the president and first lady were away at the time, but sasha obama was inside with her grandma. one former agent says the agency could benefit from new . it's an agency that's quite old and kind of done it's thing for a significant amount of time, and it's worked up until now. and this is when you have to change with the times, be progressive. >> this latest report adds to concern over a series of troubling miss steps. tomorrow house republican plans to drill pearson about the issues. >>> an alert from the c

there's no evidence that anybody in the war department either james monroe or armstrong had the lightest that this was a problem during the war. it was to take officers like winfield scott who learned the hard way by nitty-gritty harsh experience about what it took to train men underarms. above all to teach them not to run from the enemy as they did at the battle of bladensberg. now because of that, all of these defects in the army, it was always necessary to supplement its numbers with militia. if the regular army was not very wa far worse in the state militias. the federal government had the international servants under spes ficified conditions but ha authorities to impose uniformed methods or training on them. those matters were left to the states. basically the states did nothing about it in the early 19th century despite the fact the president and secretary of war said we have a problem. congress refused. as a result, the worstqm0dm fia occurred in the war of 1812 are always associated with defects in the militia. i will give you two quick examples. one is the battle of october of 1

and then a note arrived at the sate department scribbled by secretary of state james monroe who was thenrseback spying on the british advance east of washington. he ordered his staff to secure as best they could the precious national documents in the departmental records. one of the clerks, stephen pleasanton, remember that name, stephen with a "ph" and pleasanton. this is one of the bravest men i'll talk about tonight. he and others but pleasanton described himself as chiefly instrumental in this. very gently put the originals believe it or not of the declaration of independence, the constitution, international treaties and george washington's correspondence into bags that he had made up into book bags that were linen. whilst this is being done, none other than the secretary of war passed by and armstrong rebuked him for being alarmist and thinking the british were on the way to washington. pleasanton was intimidated. that's amazing. imagine. he stood up to the secretary of war and said it's more prudent to try and protect the documents of the revolutionary government so he loaded them

in the war of 1812, before the war begins, jefferson and james monroe are dreaming of this potentialr as leading to the annexation of cuba and canada. this is kind of the fantasy of the ever expanding continent without thinking about the real realities of what it takes it deal with taking this land or conquering this land. but this was what they were very much invested in. unfortunately, for are mr. madison, he wasn't going to get canada, wasn't going to get cuba, he had to settle for baton rouge. where i happen to live right now. so it is a good thing. this baton rouge, if you don't know, came into the united states because it was based on a filibuster, undertaken by virginians as opposed to the new yorker, aaron ber are ar and hi ademocr attempt. the lone star flag of the west virginia -- west florida public later morphed into the better known texas flag. and madison was completely on board with this. he wasn't opposed to it. he was, like, we'll take advantage of this. while history is privilege, the role of the younger war hawks in congress, theirs is only part of one story. alber

and then a note arrived at the sate department scribbled by secretary of state james monroe who was thendered his staff to secure as best they could the precious national documents in the departmental records. one of the clerks, stephen pleasanton, remember that name, stephen with a "ph" and pleasanton. this is one of the bravest men i'll talk about tonight. he and others but pleasanton described himself as chiefly instrumental in this. very gently put the originals believe it or not of the declaration of independence, the constitution, international treaties and george washington's correspondence into bags that he had made up into book bags that were linen. whilst this is being done, none other than the secretary of war passed by and armstrong rebuked him for being alarmist and thinking the british were on the way to washington. pleasanton was intimidated. that's amazing. imagine. he stood up to the secretary of war and said it's more prudent to try and protect the documents of the revolutionary government so he loaded them on to carts, crossed the potomac river and drove two miles-7ñ

jefferson is a widower in a previous eight years and james monroe, who serves the next eight years after madison, his wife is somewhat limited her her ability to be in the public eye could you talk about how dolley -- does her role as first lady expand in either one of those administrations? >> i would pity anybody who would follow dolley madison. and sadly for elizabeth monroe people noted it. it was noted by people. louisa catherine adams, who would go on to follow mrs. monroe would say "she's just not dear dolley." and of course what mrs. monroe brought -- once you understand there's a tension between aristocracy and republicanism or democracy, you can see the united states wrestling with it so when elizabeth monroe comes with her polish from the continent she tries to set and footing with not great success. she didn't have that touch where dolley could blend those two absolu absolutely and i have to say i dwloe to holly schulman, we talked about this and she's right. too much has been made of the fact that thomas jefferson was a widower and that people said that dolley madison served

. >> 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 peo

yet the press and individuals began to write about the house madison's successor james monroe moved intoe house late in 1817. on new year's day 1818, the world was invited to see the house. even the crew that had worked on it were given crackers and beer in the basement. they never had imagined it before. many, many came. when it looked exactly the same outside except for unfinished boarded up openings in the roof to allow for porticos that were planned. the interior was princely and regal. in effect, washington would have disapproved and jefferson abhorred. gold leaf french furniture, chandeliers, great mirrors and sumptuous upholsteries. it was a palatial symbol of the head of state. monroe's administration opened in the bright glow of what that time was called the era of good feelings. war was over. americans were in control. the british were gone and prosperity seemed everywhere. americans exploding ambitions it turned now to enterprise. the president believed that the cancer of rival political parties was over. well, the idea that the era of good feelings is spoken many ways is best

james madison. [ applause ] any questions? is my evidence so conclusive no one has any -- [ inaudible question ] >> the previous speaker said that monroe came back about two days after the burning. when did she come back -- >> at about the same time. the first night she -- oh, what was happening during the next two days before the madisons returned to washington, d.c. they were both floating around the countryside. there are various legends about this. it seems as if dolley went to the house of a mrs. love, whose parents actually were at her wedding to james madison, but she, herself, was also a member of the lee family, a very federalist family. love would visit the madisons during his presidency in the white house, but her father would not. then she apparently went to a tavern and there are stories about the tavern and people said oh, we have been destroyed in washington and we won't let you into the tavern, how can we admit you into this space? what do we know? we know it's in the newspapers. we don't have any -- that's what i'm trying to say. we have very little evidence. they were too busy to write and it's possible if something h

james madison. [ applause ] any questions? is my evidence so conclusive no one has any -- [ inaudible question ] >> the previous speaker said that monroe came back about two days after the burning. when did she come back -- >> at about the same time. the first night she -- oh, what was happening during the next two days before the madisons returned to washington, d.c. they were both floating around the countryside. there are various legends about this. it seems as if dolley went to the house of a mrs. love, whose parents actually were at her wedding to james madison, but she, herself, was also a member of the lee family, a very federalist family. love would visit the madisons during his presidency in the white house, but her father would not. then she apparently went to a tavern and there are stories about the tavern and people said oh, we have been destroyed in washington and we won't let you into the tavern, how can we admit you into this space? what do we know? we know it's in the newspapers. we don't have any -- that's what i'm trying to say. we have very little evidence. they were too busy to write and it's possible if something h

to take advantage, he bought into james monroe, secretary of state. there are a number of reasons why he did this, but one of the reasons why he did it was that he had formed personal relationships with some of the british politicians who were expected to become ministers in the reconstruction of the british ministry. this was a window of opportunity that very soon closed. he never changed his father's ministers, despite what he felt about the man. for that reason, british policy toward the united states remained unchanged. now, he did make a sort of conciliatory gesture to the united states by sending madison to washington. madison knew that george iii's m ministers were not likely to ease up. as this prediction had come to pass, madison concluded he needed to have a much stronger resistance than he had in the past. how do we know this? we know this because an editorial in the administration newspaper -- oh, sorry. sorry about that. i wasn't looking behind me. there was an editorial in the administration newspaper, the newspaper that could have been