The War of 1812

Personally, I didn't know that much about this war. I hear it mentioned, but never in detail. I found out that, early in it's status as a nation, America didn't do as well as I had previously thought in military action. One cause of the war was the British blocking America to European trade as a result of Napoleon's Continental System. Another of the causes of the war was the British policy of Impressment, which boiled down to the British Navy kidnapping Americans on the seas and forcing them into service in the British military. Coupled with the desire to invade Canada, war was declared. Previously, I'd thought that Great Britain was the first to strike. However, they didn't respond in force until much later. In fact, we were the first to strike, managing to burn the parliament building in the Canadian capital of York. However, we weren't able to hold our advances into Canada very well. Madison hadn't done much to militarize the U.S. before declaring war, and when the British finally invaded after the Napoleonic Wars, they found the Americans in a state of disarray. The British even made it to Washington, D.C.. I knew about this earlier. What I didn't know was that, before the British arrived, Dolly Madison had stayed until the last minute to retrieve the portrait of George Washington. Also, after the sack of Washington, a huge hurricane descended, which also spawned a tornado. To the British, this at least looked like a terrible coincidence, and at the most looked like nothing short of divine intervention. Either way, it is ironic that D.C., way out of tornado alley, was hit by a tornado on that night.