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.
04:02Simon, what 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.
05:22The Bladesburg is actually quite close to the district of Columbia.
05:28A cannon fire could be heard, a 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.
07:05Time to go, Mrs. Madison?
07:07Yes, John.
07:09Time to go.
07:12First, there are a few things we must do.
07:22Kind of scared to touch it.
07:24Don't be a coward. It's only a copy.
07:27Well, you do it then.
07:27Uh-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.
07:58Kids, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed
08:07by 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.
08:20Well, I 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, we 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, and I've heard what soldiers can do to women.
09:01They wouldn't dare.
09:03Hey, men.
09:03Ain't nothing a man wouldn't do when he survived being shot at.
09:07Please, men.
09:08My fiance is here, too.
09:14Right.
09:16But first, there's one more thing we need to back.
09:28Are you sure?
09:30Why do men always have to overcompensate?
09:41He's all going to get killed for a president about 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.
10:47No.
10:57Don't.
11:21That's everything, Mrs. Madison.
11:23Something has happened to him.
11:25It must 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 you up myself and suffer the consequences later.
11:38If I were a man, I'd post a can on every window of the White House and fight to the
11:41bitter end.
11:42I know you would. Now, let's get going.
11:54She really does stay longer than she probably should have.
11:57She could have been captured as a prisoner of war and paraded through the streets of London.
12:08She finally leaves and just in the nick of time.
12:16Dolly.
12:31Dolly.
12:33Dolly.
12:36Anyone?
12:39Anyone?
12:48What the hell is going on here?
12:50Dolly.
12:51Dolly.
12:56Dolly.
13:05Dolly.
13:07Dolly.
13:09Dolly.
13:10Dolly.
13:11Dolly.
13:13Dolly.
13:14Dolly.
13:15Dolly.
13:16Dolly.
13:16Dolly.
13:17Dolly.
13:18Dolly.
13:19Dolly.
13:20Dolly.
13:26by the time james madison gets back to the white house dolly has already left
13:31and there will be looters who start raiding the white house for any goods that they can find
13:39eventually madison leaves he goes to a town in maryland called brookville
13:47and once the british pass bladensburg that is effectively the final resistance the british
13:53meet
14:02the british enter the white house and the first thing they do is have a party dolly's left them with
14:08dinner they sit down it's the famous last dinner party where they all sit around they wonder if
14:14the food's been poisoned but they drink and eat anyway
14:19and it was only then after enjoying themselves that they decided to set fire to the white house
14:27put that food down the general has ordered us to torch the place now
14:41for king george
14:52let's go
15:05they'd start burning public buildings and really terrorize washington for about 24 hours
15:14it was the burning of the white house itself that was really the symbol of the entire war the white
15:20white house symbol of the nation torched by an invading army
15:25and
15:26and
15:27and
15:27and
15:28and
15:28and
15:28and
15:29and
15:29and
16:04Please be here.
16:06Please be here.
16:25James Madison, you are a fool, a derp fool.
16:28You swore you would go nowhere near the fighting.
16:32Didn't that tell you to leave the presidential house before the British arrive?
16:36You did.
16:38I'll trade it my mind.
16:43That doesn't sound good.
16:46Cannons.
16:47No, it's a storm.
16:49Hopefully it'll slow the British down.
16:54Let's hunker here, till the passes.
16:58The 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.
17:32I don't know.
17:34I don't know.
17:37I don't know.
17:39I don't know.
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 capital had been destroyed numerous other federal buildings had also been torched and
18:10although that the shell of the white house remained it was uninhabitable
18:17even took president washington's portrait bastards
18:21oh no that was me
18:26i start somewhere safe
18:29british 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
18:44the symbolism of the capital falling under james madison's watch
18:49would have been just utterly devastating
18:52he was jeered in the press jeered in fact in the streets
18:59tell me truthfully jimmy
19:02do you think the senate really means us to abandon washington forever
19:08you're scared
19:11fools
19:12after the attack on washington dc a lot of people believe
19:16now that washington lay too exposed there was talk about relocating the nation's capital much
19:23further inland the city of cincinnati in ohio was discussed
19:29there was a time when we first arrived in washington and i thought
19:35surely this can't be the new home of our great nation
19:40what what a 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
19:52if someone had told me there was no shame in it
19:56but now
19:59this building
20:02the capital 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
20:20they will have won
20:23then we must fight for it my dear
20:36when we first arrived in washington many years ago
20:40it'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
20:47town and a couple of men threw a bottle at my head from the steps of the local tavern as
20:52we
20:52finally arrived it's too bad they missed oh and then we saw the president's house
21:00under john adams the water closet was outside the steps were half built and i do believe that
21:05mrs 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
21:17when my wife and i moved to the president's house
21:22valley made it into the most beautiful home in america 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 the senate building too
21:42now we know that most of you think that that is the right thing to do
21:47leave washington and return government and this residence to philadelphia but that
21:55is not a vision i subscribe to and 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 and that the president should live
22:24right here now i ask you would washington run with his tail between his legs back to philadelphia
22:37my husband and i ask that you back new plans to rebuild this city so it becomes even greater
22:46a shining beacon that no other nation can ever destroy and that beautiful white house
22:56will be the beaten heart of our nation
23:00a home
23:04for all of us
23:07forever
23:10forever
23:20do you really think this place can be rebuilt jimmy it's fit to collapse and blacker than a coal mine
23:29why it really isn't a very practical cover for a building
23:33oh i don't doubt it can be rebuilt
23:36or concerned about the next inhabitants
23:40seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble
23:54huh
23:55uh
24:00uh
24:01uh
24:01uh
24:02uh
24:02uh
24:03uh
24:03uh
24:04uh
24:05uh
24:05uh
24:05uh
24:06uh
24:06uh
24:06uh
24:08uh
24:08uh
24:08uh
24:09Oh
Comments