Drawn from new sources, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian presents a gripping narrative that recreates the events that inspired hundreds of slaves to pressure British admirals into becoming liberators by using their intimate knowledge of the countryside to transform the war.

Prize-winning historian Daughan tells the thrilling story of how a few heroic captains and their stalwart crews overcame spectacular odds to lead the country to victory against the world's greatest imperial power. "1812" is the first complete account in more than a century of how the U.S. Navy rescued the fledgling nation and secured America's future.

In June 1812 the still-infant United States had the audacity to declare war on the British Empire. Fought between creaking sailing ships and armies often led by bumbling generals, the ensuing conflict featured a tit-for-tat "You burned our capital, so we'll burn yours" and a legendary battle unknowingly fought after the signing of a peace treaty.

During the course of the war, the young American navy proved its mettle as the USS Constitution,

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War of 1812 is a four-part documentary series that brings to life an extraordinary, but not well understood conflict that decided the fate of North America, confirmed the creation of Canada, and annihilated for all time the dream of an independent Native nation.

Caroline and her mother make a dangerous trip across Lake Ontario to the British fort where her father is a prisoner. When Mama isn't allowed to see Papa, it's up to Caroline to deliver a secret message to him--right under the nose of a British guard.

Relates events of the 1814 Battle of Baltimore as seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old Caroline Pickersgill, who had worked with her family and their servants to sew the enormous flag which waved over Fort McHenry.

Continues the story of Caroline Abbott, a young girl living during the War of 1812.

A two-hour documentary looking at this important historic event from several perspectives, the American, Canadian, British and Native American. The program will have some limited but very well done reenactments and major historians, authors, and experts.

In August 1814, the United States army was defeated just outside Washington, D.C., by the world's greatest military power. President James Madison and his wife had just enough time to flee the White House before the British invaders entered. British troops stopped to feast on the meal still sitting on the Madisons' dining-room table before setting the White House on fire. The extent of the destruction was massive; finished in wood rather than marble,...

Tells the story behind the original nineteenth-century national treasure that inspired the poem by Francis Scott Key and the American national anthem, while sharing insights into how the Smithsonian cares for the flag.