Test of a New Nation

In 1812, the United States of America was less than 30 years old and still shaping its identity, with fierce debates over central government, trade, slavery, expansion, and national defense, when renewed conflict with Britain erupted over interference with American trade, the seizure and impressment of sailors, and British alliances with American Indians along the Great Lakes and Northern Frontier; despite deep division and Britain’s overwhelming naval strength, Congress declared war on June 18, 1812, and fighting over the next two years stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, including British occupation and raids in the Chesapeake, the burning of Washington after the failed American defense at Bladensburg, and the failed British assault on Baltimore after resistance at North Point and the bombardment of Fort McHenry, while figures such as John O'Neill, Kitty Knight, Commodore Joshua Barney, Dolley Madison, Major George Armistead, Mary Pickersgill, and Francis Scott Key played notable roles, enslaved people also seized the chance to flee to British lines in search of freedom, and by the war’s end, sealed officially on February 17, 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent and the Battle of New Orleans, the nation had gained a stronger collective identity, greater commitment to a national military, and enduring symbols of pride including the Star-Spangled Banner and the national anthem.

Maryland · United States