Today marks the bicentenary of the starting time of the War of 1812 . Here are a few tips for throwing a 200th birthday company .
DON’T kidnap any sailors.
America had several reasons for going to warfare , including the Royal Navy ’s habit of stopping American ships and kidnapping sailors to push them onto British crews . Most party planners agree : Kidnapping and forcibly enlisting guests rarely make for a good icebreaker .
DO pace yourself.
Names and congressional declarations aside , not much actually happened during 1812 .
Most of the fighting ask place in 1813 , the peace treaty was ratified in 1814 , and the decide struggle was fought in 1815 . Be prepared to load this commemoration out .
DON’T even think about looting the White House.
If the prospect of jail metre does n’t scare you , the menace of crying karma should . When the British spoil the president ’s digs in 1814 , they ended up with very little to show for it . The ship carry the booty dip off the coast of Nova Scotia , depriving the Brits of their spoils .
DO launch bottle rockets.
Take some aspiration from " The Star - Spangled Banner ” and add some red glare to your backyard festivities . If you ’ve ever wondered what those rocket salad were that Francis Scott Key referenced , he was writing about Congreve rockets , a relatively new weapons system for the sentence . The Congreve was a jumbo branding iron bottle skyrocket climb on on a 15 - metrical foot - recollective bamboo pole . The rockets could fly for more than a mile and had huge destructive capability , but their inaccuracy really undersell their effectiveness .
DON’T forget to visit Brookeville, Maryland
After the British burned Washington , President James Madison demand a muted place to hide out . On August 26 , 1814 , he skid off to Brookeville , a tiny rural settlement 18 international nautical mile north of Washington , and in short ran the country from there until the oestrus conk out down that evening . The townsfolk ’s 140 occupant still charge it as the “ U.S. Capital for a Clarence Day , ” so give it a salute .
This article originally appeared in mental_floss magazine . Get a free issue !
