USS Constitution

VIDEO | On August 24, 1814, 206 years ago, British forces invaded America's young capital of Washington D.C. following a victory at Bladensburg, Md. They captured the city with ease, and proceeded to setting a majority of the federal buildings on fire including the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

Like their brethren during the American...

The War of 1812 is one of the least studied wars in American history. Sometimes referred to as the “Second War of Independence,” the War of 1812 was the first large scale test of the American republic on the world stage. With the British Navy impressing American sailors, and the British government aiding Native American tribes in their attacks on American citizens on the frontier, Congress, for the first time in our nation’s history, declared war on a foreign nation: Great Britain. The War of 1812 brought the United States onto the world's stage and was followed by a half-decade now called the "Era of Good Feelings."