The Age of Jackson | Washington Burns | 1

American History Tellers

Audible

Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 19K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2018

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In August 1814, the White House burned. A fire that would eventually consume the entire nation in Civil War was already burning. This is Antebellum America.

This is the adolescence of the United States, when the country grew at tremendous speed, and when fundamental questions about the kind of place it would be were being asked. Like, could the states put their individual differences aside to remain one country? And could this new country live up to its lofty ideals, especially when it came to issues like slavery or the treatment of Native Americans?

Welcome to the Age of Jackson.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon music, download the app today.
0:12.0	Imagine its August 24th, 1814.
0:15.0	You are a clerk at the State Department.
0:17.0	Rumors of an impending British invasion are rampant, and the residents of Washington City are in a panic.
0:23.0	People are fleeing the city and droves, hysterical over the prospect of a British attack on the Capitol.
0:29.0	You stand side by side with the fellow clerk on the front steps of the State Department, waiting for orders from the Secretary of State.
0:36.0	Do you think the Brits are coming? I don't know.
0:39.0	And that's the truth, you don't know. No one does.
0:42.0	Four days ago, British troops landed at the port town of Benedict Maryland, and started advancing north.
0:48.0	That very same day, your boss, Secretary of State James Monroe, and a small envoy of scouts left Washington to spy on the British forces and determine their ultimate destination.
0:58.0	It's here or Baltimore, where else would they be marching?
1:01.0	You don't have an answer. All you have are your orders. Hold your position at the State Department and await further instructions.
1:08.0	And so, standing on the front steps, overlooking the melee of panic citizens in the streets, you wait.
1:14.0	The British and the Americans have been at war for almost two years now.
1:18.0	The war of 1812 between the United States and Britain began as part of a much wider conflict in Europe, the Napoleonic Wars, that pitted great Britain against France.
1:28.0	But in April 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, the self-styled Emperor of the French, had been defeated and forced into exile.
1:35.0	With the French out of the way, the British were free to concentrate their efforts against their former colony, the United States.
1:42.0	Standing on the steps of the State Department, something in the street catches your eye, a lone rider at full gallop, barrels through the crowd.
1:50.0	A dispatch from Secretary Monroe, sir. The enemy are in full march for Washington.
1:54.0	Your heart sings, but there's no time for despair. The British are coming to Washington. With no troops to defend her, the capital will surely fall.
2:02.0	But your orders aren't to defend the city. Secretary Monroe has charged you with an altogether different task.
2:08.0	Take the best care of the official books and papers of the office.
	...

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