The rockets were British missiles called Congreves and looked a bit like giant bottle rockets. Imagine a long stick that spins around in the air, attached to a cylindrical canister filled with gunpowder, tar and shrapnel. The name endured as shorthand for the U. To Americans, the burning of Washington by British troops was a shocking act by barbaric invaders. But the burning was payback for a similar torching by American forces the year before. The British exacted revenge in Aug. Long-term, this may have been a blessing for the U.
The United States declared war over what it saw as British violations of American sovereignty at sea. But the war resulted in a tremendous loss of Native American sovereignty, on land. William Henry Harrison, who later led the U. Two Americans were killed in the blast and 65 Americans and Vietnamese were injured.
Ambassador Maxwell Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Comedian Bob Hope gives what he says is his last Christmas show to U. Hope was a comedian and star of stage, radio, television and over 50 feature films. Hope was one of many Hollywood stars who followed the tradition of traveling overseas to entertain On December 24, , President Calvin Coolidge touches a button and lights up the first national Christmas tree to grace the White House grounds.
The law was hailed by supporters as a necessary step in preventing alleged communist subversion in the United States, while opponents decried the legislation as being xenophobic and discriminatory.
They had to give up an assault on Baltimore when they were unable to compel Fort McHenry to submit, and they were decisively defeated at New Orleans. If the war went worse than Americans expected on land, it went surprisingly well at sea, at least initially. Early in the war, the new nation won a series of single-ship duels between American and British warships.
Especially noteworthy were the four successful cruises made by USS Constitution in the war. The frigate outran a large British squadron in and subsequently defeated four Royal Navy ships in combat. Her sides are made of iron! In the end, however, British naval power held.
The British used their navy to ship troops to Canada, to keep them supplied, and to blockade and raid the American coast. The blockade had a devastating impact on the U. The British convoy system—in which warships escorted merchant vessels—cut down on the success of American privateers. Ultimately, the War of ended in a draw on the battlefield, and the peace treaty reflected this. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in modern-day Belgium on December 24, , and went into effect on February 17, , after both sides had ratified it.
The poorly trained U. America's military fleet was large, but Britain's was much larger. The United States entered the war seeking to secure commercial rights and uphold national honor. The American strategy was to quickly bring Great Britain to the negotiating table on these issues by invading Canada.
Captured Canadian territory could be used as a powerful bargaining chip against the crown. The invasion of Canada, which began in the summer of , ended in disaster. Meanwhile, British-allied Native Americans continued their raids in Indiana and Illinois, massacring many settlers.
The Americans performed better at sea. Although the British were able to set a semi-tight blockade along the Atlantic seaboard, American ships won several battles against British warships and captured a number of British trade vessels. The Americans continued to ably combat the formidable Royal Navy throughout the war.
American fortunes fared little better through most of An attempt to retake Detroit failed near Frenchtown , Michigan, though the resulting massacre of American prisoners at the hands of Native Americans on January 23, , inspired Kentucky soldiers to enlist, heeding the new rally cry "Remember the River Raisin!
The only considerable American successes occurred in September, with Oliver Hazard Perry winning a major naval battle on Lake Erie, and in October when the Tecumseh's Confederacy of northwestern Native American tribes was crushed at the Battle of the Thames. Towards the end of , a war among the Creek nations erupted in the Southeast between factions influenced by Tecumseh's nativism and those who sought to adopt white culture.
Andrew Jackson organized a force of militia over the winter of and defeated the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on May 24, Through the Treaty of Fort Jackson, he forced both sides of the Creek Nation, even those allied to him, to cede nearly 23 million acres of what would become Alabama and portions of Georgia. In , the newly promoted Brigadier General Winfield Scott implemented a plan of strict drill for American troops on the Canadian border. In April, a brief peace broke out in Europe as Napoleon was forced into his first exile.
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