Although his namesake bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Francis Scott Key is best remembered for capturing the spirit of renewed patriotism that grew out of the War or 1812, as he penned his description of the defense of Fort McHenry (above) that became our National Anthem. The War of 1812 was a national low point in many ways, as Congress had ended Alexander Hamilton’s National Bank, and Albert Gallatin’s budget cuts had eviscerated the military. The trail traces the British advances on land and sea, leading up to the siege of Baltimore. Many of the DC area sites are part of this trail, including Fort Washington, Greenbelt Park, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, the National Mall, Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, the George Washington Parkway, and the Potomac Heritage Trail, but there are lesser known battlefields, forts, museums, plantations, gardens, parks, the Pride of Baltimore II, the house of Mary Pickersgill, who made the flag, and more throughout Maryland.

Dolley Madison may have been our greatest First Lady—especially compared to the feckless Congress and Cabinet, often only barely loyal to the US and open to surrender—, but Dolley did everything she could to support her husband and her country. She invented the Inaugural Ball, hosted Native American Chiefs, smoothed quarrels between European and African envoys, and, in our hour of need, stood fast in the White House, even as the marauding British Troops approached in 1814 and as her husband tried to rally the local militia to defend the Capitol. At the last possible moment, she evacuated, with the President’s papers, the curtains, china, an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, and a famous portrait of George Washington, torn from its immovable frame. The British burned the White House to the ground. Dolley’s famous diplomacy helped convince Congress not to abandon Washington DC and to rebuild the White House and the Capitol. And through the news reports of her defense of our country, the nation rallied, shocked that the British would burn down DC’s public buildings.

However, in the war’s aftermath came a new sense of national identity, including our national flag and national anthem, setting the foundation for a more aggressive and stronger nation. That nationalism was fatal to many Native Americans, as the British had tried to enlist them and as the USA became more assertive and expansionist. And today, there are self-proclaimed ‘nationalists’ who support the second attack on the Capitol.