Living through Conflicts: Moments

Under a starry night sky, unarmed townsfolk from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) in Upper Canada stood shivering in the December snow. They watched as members of the Canadian Volunteers, wearing grey uniforms and green-banded hats, raised their torches and set fire to each house.

In the heat of June, 1813, Laura Secord trekked 20 miles through countryside and swamp to warn the British of an American attack. With her advance notice, native warriors and British officers captured the entire force, marking the downturn of the American invasion of Upper Canada.

First Lady Dolley Madison is often credited with saving the portrait of George Washington and other White House treasures when the British attacked the Capitol in 1814. But few accounts mention the help she received from one of her enslaved servants.

As part of the defense of New Orleans against the threat of British invasion, Andrew Jackson assumed military control of the area, suspending civil authority. His refusal to lift martial law long after the British had left raised questions about civilian supremacy and the protection of civil liberties in wartime.