00:22Save them tears, the lords watching over us, ain't nobody gonna be busting through them
00:29the front doors any time soon. And our army's gonna stop the British right in their tracks.
00:36Bet on it.
00:37Well said, Freeman.
00:50You planning on cutting the cake with that Mrs. Madison?
00:53Fake? No. The English? Perhaps.
01:03Chocolate sponge would be a whole lot easier to clean off that blade.
01:14The guests will be arriving in less than two hours. Please ensure there is enough cider and wine. The entire
01:22cabinet has been invited and some of them could drink a tavern dry.
01:27Mrs. Madison, are you sure the cabinet's gonna come? Seems to me they might be too busy, what with the
01:35redcoats on our doorstep.
01:36Of course they'll come. It is our duty to keep up appearances. Reassure the people of Washington that our army
01:43has everything under control.
01:57The blade itself incites the deeds of violence. The Odyssey. Homer. If we survive this, we got some reading to
02:13do.
02:21In 1814, when the British are moving north towards Washington DC, the Americans decide to resist them at Bladensburg, which
02:33is east of Washington. And the whole thing is a mess.
02:42Water.
02:46Water.
02:49Water.
02:50Okay, son.
02:51Yeah, careful, careful.
02:52Madison is there. He's with a couple of aides. They're very worried about his safety.
02:59This was an active battlefield. Shots were being fired.
03:04President Madison, you shouldn't be here. The English have broken through.
03:11Sir.
03:12I'll go with you, son. I'll go with you.
03:17James Madison stays on the battlefield right up until it's clear that the battle is lost and he needs to
03:22leave or else he could be captured along with other US forces.
03:29But they called it the Bladensburg races because it was in battle as much as a race away.
04:00FREEMAN
04:03What time is it?
04:06Quarter past four, Mrs. Madison.
04:10Everyone is late.
04:21They've gone.
04:28All of them.
04:32How could they?
04:35Cowards!
04:36At one point, Dolly looks out and sees that the militia have left.
04:42So the White House was essentially left wide open, unguarded, and vulnerable.
04:49And here's Dolly, still inside, wondering what to do.
04:53Mrs. Madison, do you think maybe we should collect your belongings and get you somewhere safe?
05:02I won't be going anywhere, not till I hear from the president himself.
05:09You heard, Mrs. Madison.
05:12We're staying.
05:21The Bladesburg is actually quite close to the district of Columbia.
05:28Cannon fire could be heard rumbling in the distance.
05:49Will I be a guest?
05:53Better be safe than sorry.
05:57Freeman, grab the sword and join me.
06:26Compliments from General Armstrong.
06:37General Armstrong has ordered a complete retreat from Washington.
06:42British troops are expected to be here in a matter of hours.
06:50Any word of the president?
06:56Go and return to General Armstrong.
06:59Tell him our prayers are with him.
07:04Time to go, Mrs. Madison?
07:07Yes, John.
07:09Time to go.
07:12First, there are a few things we must do.
07:22Time to scare to touch it.
07:24Don't be a coward.
07:25It's only a copy.
07:27Well, you do it then.
07:28Uh-uh.
07:28That there's a man's job.
07:36Don't drop it.
07:38Dolly needs to flee.
07:40She's told she should flee.
07:42But she thinks about what should I save?
07:45What should I preserve from the White House?
07:49Dolly Madison knows that the British are going to destroy anything they can find.
07:53They're going to desecrate any symbol of America and its independence.
07:58We hold these truths to be self-evident.
08:01That all men are created equal.
08:05And that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
08:12It's time to go, John.
08:15I know.
08:17That's the last of the things Mrs. Madison asked me to fetch.
08:20I should go find her.
08:23Do you think the English is going to kill us?
08:26Kill us?
08:27Not a chance.
08:28We're slaves.
08:30We're more valuable than all the silverware in this building.
08:40Damn you, Jimmy.
08:42Where are you?
08:48Mrs. Madison.
08:50We boxed up as much as we think can be carried away.
08:53I know you're worried about the president, but we can't wait any longer.
08:57The English can arrive at any moment.
08:59And I've heard what soldiers can do to women.
09:01They wouldn't dare.
09:03They're men.
09:04Ain't nothing a man wouldn't do when he's survived being shot at.
09:07Please, ma'am.
09:08My fiancé is here, too.
09:13All right.
09:16But first, there's one more thing we need to pack.
09:28Are you sure?
09:30Why do men always have to overcompensate?
09:41These are all going to get killed for a president that, that years ago.
09:44Freeman?
09:45Nothing, ma'am.
09:46Just admiring Mr. Washington is all.
09:49Well, stop admiring it and start packing it up.
09:57She's worried that if the British occupy the White House, that they'll deface the painting of George Washington.
10:05And that would be too embarrassing for the United States.
10:10But don't just stand there.
10:14Drop it to the floor and cut it from the frame.
10:39Enjoy this moment.
10:42Might be the only time a black man gets to stick a knife in the prison and not get hung
10:45for it.
10:47Come on.
10:49Come on.
11:01Come here.
11:21that's everything mrs madison something has happened to him it must have he'd have been here
11:29i know you want to wait man but i have to tell you unless you come now i'll be forced
11:33to pick
11:33you up myself and suffer the consequences later if i were a man i'd post a can on every window
11:40of
11:40the white house would fight to the bitter end i know you would now let's get going
11:54she really does stay longer than she probably should have she could have been captured as a
11:59prisoner of war and paraded through the streets of london
12:08she finally leaves and just in the nick of time
12:31dolly
12:32dolly dolly
12:39anyone anyone
12:49what the hell is going on here
12:50dolly dolly
13:24I'll have you
13:27By the time James Madison gets back to the White House
13:30Dolly has already left
13:31And there will be looters
13:33Who start raiding the White House for any goods
13:35That they can find
13:39Eventually Madison leaves
13:41He goes to a town in Maryland called Brookville
13:47And once the British pass Bladensburg
13:49That is effectively the final
13:51Resistance the British meet
14:03The British enter the White House
14:05And the first thing they do is have a party
14:06Dolly's left them with dinner
14:10They sit down
14:11It's the famous last dinner party
14:12Where they all sit around
14:13They wonder if the food's been poisoned
14:15But they drink and eat anyway
14:18And it was only then
14:20After enjoying themselves
14:21That they decided to set fire
14:24To the White House
14:26Put that food down
14:28The General has ordered us to torch the place
14:31Now
14:41For King George
14:53Let's go
15:05They'd start burning public buildings
15:07And really terrorize Washington
15:09And really terrorize Washington for about 24 hours
15:14It was the burning of the White House itself
15:16That was really the symbol of the entire war
15:20The White House
15:21Symbol of the nation
15:22Torched by an invading army
15:38No
15:39No
15:48I don't think so
15:51Yeah
15:52No
16:04Please be here.
16:07Please be here.
16:25James and Madison, you are a fool, a derb fool.
16:29You swore you would go nowhere near the fighting.
16:32Did that tell you to leave the presidential house before the British arrive?
16:36You did.
16:38I'll change my mind.
16:43That doesn't sound good.
16:46Cannons.
16:47No, it's a storm.
16:50Hopefully it'll slow the British down.
16:54Let's hunker here, kill the basses.
16:59The British are holding Washington, but one thing that encourages them to leave is a hurricane the following day.
17:06The hellacious storm, rain, winds.
17:10They called it the storm that saved Washington because it helped put out all the fires.
17:16And to some, it was as if there had been divine intervention to spare America.
17:20Let's go on.
17:21We're going on.
17:53It appears the British are less than considerate guests.
17:59They returned to the White House about three days later to a very different city.
18:04The Capitol had been destroyed.
18:07Numerous other federal buildings had also been torched.
18:10And although the shell of the White House remained, it was uninhabitable.
18:16They even took President Washington's portrait.
18:19You're married. Bastards.
18:21Oh, no. That was me.
18:26I still was somewhere safe.
18:29The British don't know how lucky they are that you left before they arrived.
18:33Well, I mean, if that's what you did to Washington, then...
18:40You can imagine what's going on through James Madison's mind at the time.
18:45The symbolism of the Capitol falling under James Madison's watch would have been just utterly devastating.
18:53He was jeered in the press.
18:55Jeered, in fact, in the streets.
18:59Tell me truthfully, Jimmy.
19:03Do you think the Senate really means us to abandon Washington forever?
19:08I'm scared.
19:11Fools.
19:13After the attack on Washington, D.C., a lot of people believe now that Washington lay too exposed.
19:19There was talk about relocating the nation's Capitol much further inland.
19:24The city of Cincinnati in Ohio was discussed.
19:29There was a town when we first arrived in Washington, and I thought, surely this can't be the new home
19:39of our great nation.
19:40What?
19:41A great big pile of bricks dropped onto a swamp.
19:47Honestly, James, I would have hitched up my skirt and run all the way back to Montpelier if someone had
19:52told me there was no shame in it.
19:56But now, this building, the Capitol, are symbols of everything we're trying to build.
20:10The British tried to destroy it, but here we are.
20:14Still standing.
20:17If we abandon Washington now, they will have won.
20:24Then we must fight for it, my dear.
20:36When we first arrived in Washington, many years ago, it's safe to say that we were surprised.
20:43I lost a good pair of shoes, helping to push my carriage across the stream on the outskirts of town,
20:48and a couple of men threw a bottle at my head from the steps of the local tavern as we
20:52finally arrived.
20:52It's too bad they missed.
20:54Oh.
20:56And then we saw the President's house.
21:00Under John Adams, the water closet was outside.
21:03The steps were half built.
21:04And I do believe that Mrs. Adams was forced to hang the washing from the East Room.
21:11Jefferson finished the stairs and got some fancy privies built inside the house.
21:16And when my wife and I moved to the President's house, Ali made it into the most beautiful home in
21:25America, with some of the best parties, too.
21:29But then the British paid us a visit and burned it all down to the ground.
21:35If the presidential palace were a dog, you'd put it down.
21:38The Senate building, too.
21:42Now, we know that most of you think that that is the right thing to do.
21:48Leave Washington and return government and this residence to Philadelphia.
21:54But that is not a vision I subscribe to.
21:58And neither does he.
22:10George Washington united this nation and defeated the British.
22:17It was his will that this new nation have its capital here.
22:22And that the President should live right here.
22:26Now, I ask you, would Washington run with his tail between his legs back to Philadelphia?
22:35No.
22:37My husband and I ask that you back new plans to rebuild this city so it becomes even greater.
22:47A shining beacon that no other nation can ever destroy.
22:51And that beautiful White House will be the beaten heart of our nation.
23:00A home.
23:03For all of us.
23:07Forever.
23:10Forever.
23:20Do you really think this place can be rebuilt, Jimmy?
23:24It's fit to collapse and blacker than a coal mine.
23:29White really isn't a very practical cover for a building.
23:33Oh, I don't doubt it can be rebuilt.
23:36We're concerned about the next inhabitants.
23:40It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
24:06It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
24:08It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
24:10It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
24:10It seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.
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