The War of 1812

In Our Time: History

BBC

History

4.5 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2013

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the War of 1812, the conflict between America and the British Empire sometimes referred to as the second American War of Independence. In June 1812, President James Madison declared war on Britain, angered by the restrictions Britain had imposed on American trade, the Royal Navy's capture of American sailors and British support for Native Americans. After three years of largely inconclusive fighting, the conflict finally came to an end with the Treaty of Ghent which, among other things, helped to hasten the abolition of the global slave trade. Although the War of 1812 is often overlooked, historians say it had a profound effect on the USA and Canada's sense of national identity, confirming the USA as an independent country. America's national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner began life as a poem written after its author, Francis Scott Key, witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. The war also led to Native Americans losing hundreds of thousands of acres of land in a programme of forced removal. With: Kathleen Burk Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Lawrence Goldman Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford Frank Cogliano Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time
0:04.1	and for our terms of use, please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio for.
0:09.1	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.4	Hello, in 1814, a 35-year-old American lawyer, Francis Scott Key, wrote a poem which he called
0:17.0	Defence of Fort McHenry.
0:19.0	He just observed the shelling of Baltimore's fort by British ships during the War of 1812,
0:24.1	a conflict between Britain and the USA which lasted for three years.
0:27.6	The British were keen to capture Baltimore, but despite sustained bombardment, the city
0:32.3	didn't capitulate.
0:33.9	Scott Key's poem was later set to music and renamed the star-spangled banner and became
0:38.3	the USA's national anthem.
0:40.2	Although this song is now famous the world over, the War of 1812, which inspired it, is
0:44.8	today often forgotten and overlooked.
0:46.6	It was the first foreign water be declared by the recently independent USA, and is widely
0:51.4	seen among historians as having had a profound effect on how Americans and Canadians perceive
0:56.3	themselves.
0:57.3	It also had a devastating effect on the Native Americans.
1:00.8	With me to discuss the War of 1812, its causes and aftermath are Kathleen Burke, Professor
1:05.7	of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, Lawrence Goldman, fellow in modern
1:10.8	history at St Peter's College University of Oxford, and Frank Cogliano, Professor of American
1:15.7	History at the University of Edinburgh, Kathleen Burke.
1:18.4	The early 19th century was a very difficult period for European, particularly West European
	...

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