BackStory

The War of 1812: Which One Was That?

The victory of the USS Constitution over the HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812 by Anton Otto (credit: The Navy-Naval Historical Center)

200 years ago this week, the U.S. declared war for the first time in its history. Today, few people remember who we were fighting, much less what we were fighting for. If you do remember anything about the War of 1812, it’s probably something from the back of a high school history flashcard, like the burning of the White House or the Battle of New Orleans.

But despite its status as a forgotten war, the War of 1812 was hugely influential in shaping the nation we live in today. And so in this hour of BackStory, we go beyond the trivia, and explore some of the war’s deeper legacies. We look at why the war loomed so large in novels & poems of the post-war years, how the war re-defined government policies towards Native Americans, and why the war nearly led to a Civil War within the U.S. Through it all, we set out to answer the most fundamental questions about the War of 1812: What did we win, what did we lose, and why should we care?

Guests Include:

Show Segments

Listen to individual segments from the episode.

Further Exploration

Resources galore! The BackStory team has pulled together some outside material to help you navigate the wild world of weather, including a bibliography of the sources consulted in the making of this episode.

Consult a transcript of the episode.

Even Further

See a listing of music used in the episode.

12 Responses

  • Wow, great episode. I am going to have to listen to this one more than once. I have to admit I did not know much at all about it either.

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    Andy
    6/16/2012 at 5:41 pm

  • Hi guys… been listening to the show for quite some time now and I don’t want to come off as too harsh a critic, I really do love the show. But for the love of God it’s CharlesTOWN not Charleston. (Also, please consider bringing back to the old theme music. I miss it!)

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    Mike
    6/16/2012 at 9:01 pm

  • Really enjoyed this episode.

    I was surprised to hear the incredibly simplistic causation of the war as “a simple land grab.” It seems that the causes of the War of 1812 are among the most disputed of all historical debates. It would have been interesting to hear more about the historiagaphy surrounding the War’s causation.

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    Alec
    6/18/2012 at 1:59 pm

  • Dear History Guys,

    Great work on 1812. I’ve taught high school history for 30 years and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that you connected some dots that I have clearly missed, for example the vast economic implications of the war. Nevertheless, historians are notorious for conflating battle deaths and casualties. Once I witnessed a historian of national repute say in a public lecture that 50,000 Americans died at Gettysburg. Yes there were 51,000 casualties but the battle deaths were closer to 8,000. Last night there was the claim that 5,000 Americans died at the first Bull Run which was more than the battle deaths in all of the War of 1812. As a matter of clarification 847 Americans died on the battlefield at Bull Run and total battle deaths in the War of 1812 amounted to 2,260. No doubt a number of the 2706 wounded at Bull Run perished from the medieval medical care of the day, but the numbers still do not compute since the total wounded in the War of 1812 is listed as 4505. This may all seem rather picayune but when we are talking about war, statistics do matter.

    Respectfully,

    G. Howard Hunter
    President, Louisiana Historical Society

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    G. Howard Hunter
    6/19/2012 at 9:54 am

  • Surprised that Bill Malone did not know that “The Battle of New Orleans” was based on a much older fiddle tune (still widely played today) called “The Eighth of January.” Jimmie Driftwood just put words to it. Surely one reason for the popularity of “The Battle of New Orleans” is that it was based on a melody catchy enough to already have stood the test of time.

    One version of “The 8th of January” was recorded in 1940-41 and must have been played for a long time before that.

    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan08.html

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    Sharon
    6/21/2012 at 12:15 pm

  • Interested if you knew the story of Pigeon Roost Massacre and the Battle of Wm Henry Harrison (now Terre Haute, IN)

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    Mark Kreps
    6/24/2012 at 7:20 pm

  • This is one of my favourite episodes. Well done! I am an historian and archivist doing research on the War of 1812, and managed to learn quite a few interesting bits from this show. It is very good of you to present the Canadisn and Native American perspectives on this conflict, which so many Americans weren’t taught at school. Loved the segement on The Battle of New Orleans song and especially enjoyed your interview with Nicole Eustace.

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    Maria
    7/3/2012 at 5:32 am

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