IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 685 
Recognizing the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the ensuing 
200 years of peace and cooperation between the United States and Canada. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 8, 2012 
Ms. HOCHUL (for herself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, and Mr. HIGGINS) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and 
the ensuing 200 years of peace and cooperation between 
the United States and Canada. 
Whereas the United States declared war on Great Britain on 
June 18, 1812; 
Whereas communities across the United States banded to-
gether to defend the American freedoms that had been 
won in the Revolutionary War; 
Whereas roughly 20,000 brave Americans gave their lives in 
the War of 1812, and an additional 4,500 were wounded; 
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Whereas despite the vastly superior size of the military of 
Great Britain, the United States forces won a number of 
significant victories; 
Whereas the town of Lewiston, New York, served as the 
headquarters for the United States Army during the Bat-
tle of Queenston Heights, the first major battle of the 
War of 1812; 
Whereas major battles of the War of 1812 that were fought 
on the water, including American victories on the Great 
Lakes, demonstrated the superior bravery and strategic 
prowess of the United States maritime forces; 
Whereas the decisive victory of Oliver Hazard Perry over a 
British fleet near Put-In-Bay, Ohio, in the Battle of 
Lake Erie ensured that the United States gained control 
of the Great Lakes and that critical portions of the Old 
Northwest Territory remained part of the United States; 
Whereas the war came to the State of New York in late De-
cember 1813 when the village of Black Rock, just miles 
from Buffalo, was burned by the British; 
Whereas Buffalo, New York, is said to have seen more of the 
war than any other United States town, and the British 
torched Buffalo despite previous assurances that private 
property would be spared; 
Whereas Great Britain attacked the capital of the United 
States, Washington, DC, burning to the ground the 
United States Capitol Building, the White House, and 
much of the rest of the city; 
Whereas the British Royal Navy sailed up the Chesapeake 
Bay in an attempt to capture Baltimore, Maryland; 
Whereas United States forces at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry 
won a key battle, withstanding nearly 25 hours of bom-
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bardment by British forces and rebuffing the attempted 
invasion; 
Whereas Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, saw an 
American flag flying over Fort McHenry after the British 
attack and composed the work that would later become 
‘‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’’ the United States National 
Anthem; 
Whereas, on December 24, 1814, the United States and the 
British Empire signed the Treaty of Ghent, officially end-
ing the War of 1812; 
Whereas General Andrew Jackson, who would later become 
the seventh President of the United States, won the Bat-
tle of Horseshoe Bend and then emerged victorious from 
the Battle of New Orleans, which, though fought after 
the Treaty of Ghent had been signed, was a great source 
of pride and momentum for the United States; 
Whereas the end of the War of 1812 ushered in 200 years 
of peace between the United States and the nations of 
Canada and Great Britain; 
Whereas the War of 1812 Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail 
celebrates the strong relationship the United States and 
Canada have enjoyed since the end of the War of 1812, 
and marks historical sites in the Great Lakes region of 
the United States and Canada; and 
Whereas the trade partnership between the United States 
and Canada is the world’s strongest, trading nearly 
$1,000,000 in goods and services each minute and more 
than half-a-trillion dollars in goods and service each year, 
sustaining millions of jobs in both countries: Now, there-
fore, be it 
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Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes the brave soldiers that died in the War of 1812, 200 
years ago, and honors the peace and close friendship that 
the United States and Canada have shared in the 200 
years since the end of the War. 
Æ 
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