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.
06:00I feel like a thing.
06:20We'll be here.
06:27Compliments 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.
07:22Kind of scared to touch it.
07:24Don't be a coward. It's only a copy.
07:27Well, you do it then.
07:28Uh-uh. That there's a man's job.
07:38Dolly needs to flee. She's told she should flee, but she thinks about what should I save? What should I
07:46preserve 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.
08:20I should go find her.
08:23Do you think the English is going to kill us?
08:25Kill us?
08:27Not a chance.
08:28We're slaves.
08:30We're more valuable than all the silverware in this building.
08:40Damn you, Chemi.
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.
09:03They'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.
09:14All 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 about that years ago.
09:44Three men?
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.
10:40Enjoy this moment.
10:42Might be the only time a black man gets to stick a knife in the president and not get hung
10:45for it.
10:50We'll be there in the 팀.
10:54We'll be there.
11:03jotka
11:17Don't forget to stick a knife in the
11:17During the presidency.
11:17We'll be there.
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 the 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 dolly
12:39anyone anyone
12:49what the hell is going on here
12:52so
13:23I'll have you back for this. Go! Now!
13:27By 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 meet.
14:03The British enter the White House and the first thing they do is have a party. Dolly's left them with
14:08dinner.
14:10They sit down. It's the famous last dinner party where they all sit around.
14:14They wonder if the 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.
14:26Put that food down! The General has ordered us to torch the place.
14:31Now!
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.
15:20The White House, symbol of the nation, torched by an invading army.
15:24Too easy, man.
15:25Too hard I can't see it.
15:28It was the actual wall!
15:49ámTell
15:50They were hunters having been suisаем,
16:04Please be here.
16:07Please be here.
16:25James Madison, you are a fool.
16:27A dumb 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, till the passes.
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.
17:25So, what...
17:33We're going for a while.
17:42It was so loud.
17:44It's like, I'm going for you to beased on the terrain.
17:44So, let's go after this.
17:44Let's go.
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
18:53he was jeered in the press jeered in fact in the streets
18:59tell me truthfully jimmy
19:03do you think the senate really means us to abandon washington forever
19:08you're scared
19:12fools after the attack on washington dc a lot of people believe now that washington lay too exposed
19:19there was talk about relocating the nation's capital much further inland the city of cincinnati
19:25in ohio was discussed
19:29there was a time when we first arrived in washington and i thought
19:36surely this can't be the new home of our great nation
19:40what what a great big pile of bricks dropped onto a swamp
19:46honestly james i would have hitched up my skirt and run all the way back to montpelier
19:52someone had told me there was no shame in it
19:56but now
19:59this building
20:02the capital
20:04symbols of everything we're trying to build
20:10the british tried to destroy it but here we are still 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
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 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 put it down the senate building too
21:42now we know that most of you think that that is the right thing to do
21:48leave 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
22:25right here now i ask you would washington run with his tail between his legs back to philadelphia
22:38my 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
23:04for all of us
23:07forever
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
23:33well i don't doubt it could be rebuilt we're concerned about the next inhabitants
23:40seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble
23:53uh
23:55i
24:07the
24:09long
24:11the
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