Original subtitles

(audience applauding)

(dramatic music)

(tableware clattering)

(maid crying)

- Save them tears.

The lord's watching over us,

And ain't nobody gonna be busting

Through them front doors anytime soon.

And our army's gonna stop the british

Right in their tracks.

Bet on it.

- Well said, freeman!

(bright music)

- You planning on cutting the cake with that, mrs. Madison?

- Cake? No.

The english?

Perhaps.

- Chocolate sponge would be a whole lot easier

To clean off that blade.

(dramatic upbeat music)

(crickets chirping) (text thuds)

- The guests will be arriving in less than two hours.

Please ensure there is enough cider and wine.

The entire cabinet has been invited,

And some of them could drink a tavern dry.

- Mrs. Madison, are you sure the cabinet's gonna come?

Seems to me they might be too busy,

While with the red coats on our doorstep.

- Of course they'll come.

It is our duty to keep up appearances,

Reassure the people of washington

That our army has everything under control.

(dramatic music)

(tableware clattering)

- The blade itself incites the deeds of violence.

"the odyssey," homer.

If we survive this, you got some reading to do.

(soldiers yelling)

(suspenseful music)

- In 1814, when the british are moving north

Towards washington dc,

The americans decide to resist them at bladensburg.

(cannon booming)

Which is east of washington.

And the whole thing is a mess.

- [soldier] water, ugh.

- It's okay, son.

Careful, careful.

- [richard] madison is there.

He's with a couple of aides.

They're very worried about his safety.

This was an active battlefield.

Shots were being fired.

- President madison, you shouldn't be here.

The english have broken through.

Sir.

- God go with you, son.

God go with you.

- [richard] james madison stays on the battlefield

Right up until it's clear

That the battle is lost and he needs to leave

Or else he could be captured along with other us forces.

(somber music)

- They called it the bladensburg races

Because it wasn't battle as much as a race away.

(dramatic music) (cannons booming)

(suspenseful music)

- Freeman.

What time is it?

- Quarter past four, mrs. Madison.

- Everyone is late.

(footsteps thudding)

(suspenseful music)

They've gone.

All of them.

How could they?

Cowards!

- [richard] at one point, dolley looks out

And sees that the militia have left.

- So the white house was essentially

Left wide open, unguarded, and vulnerable.

And here's dolley still inside wondering what to do.

- Mrs. Madison.

Do you think maybe we should collect your belongings

And get you somewhere safe?

- I won't be going anywhere,

Not till I hear from the president himself.

- Shit.

- You heard mrs. Madison, we're staying.

(dramatic music)

- But bladensburg was actually quite close

To the district of columbia.

Cannon fire could be heard rumbling in the distance.

(footsteps clattering) (dramatic music continues)

(bell ringing)

- Might be a guest?

Better be safe than sorry.

Freeman.

Grab the sword and join me.

(suspenseful music)

- [soldier] compliments from general armstrong.

- General armstrong

Has ordered a complete retreat from washington.

British troops are expected to be here in a matter of hours.

Any word of the president?

Go and return to general armstrong.

Tell him our prayers are with him.

- Time to go, mrs. Madison?

- Yes, john.

Time to go.

First, there are a few things I must do.

- I'm kind of scared to touch it.

- Don't be a coward. It's only a copy.

- Well you do it then.

- Uh-uh! That there's a man's job.

Don't drop it.

- Dolley needs to flee,

She's told she should flee,

But she thinks about, what should I save?

What should I preserve from the white house?

- Dolley madison knows that the british

Are gonna destroy anything they can find.

They're gonna desecrate any symbol of america

And its independence.

- "we hold these truths to be self-evident

That all men are created equal

And that they are endowed by their creator

With certain unalienable rights."

- [maid] it's time to go, john.

- I know.

That's the last of the things

Mrs. Madison asked me to fetch.

I should go find her.

- Do you think the english is going to kill us?

- Kill us, not a chance.

We're slaves.

We're more valuable than all the silverware

In this building.

(soft music)

- Damn you, jimmy. Where are you?

- Mrs. Madison,

We boxed up as much as we think can be carried away.

I know you're worried about the president,

But we can't wait any longer.

The english could arrive at any moment.

And I've heard what soldiers can do to women.

- They wouldn't dare.

- They're men.

Ain't nothing a man wouldn't do

When he's survived being shot at.

Please, ma'am. My fiance's here too.

(somber music)

- All right.

Well first, there's one more thing we need to pack.

(dramatic music)

- [john] are you sure?

- Why do men always have to overcompensate?

- These all are gonna get killed for a president

That died years ago.

Freeman?

- Nothing, ma'am.

Just admiring mr. Washington is all.

- Well stop admiring it and start packing it up.

- [richard] she's worried that if the british

Occupy the white house,

That they'll deface the painting of george washington.

And that would be too embarrassing for the united states.

- Well don't just stand there.

Drop it to the floor a-and cut it from the frame.

(dramatic music continues)

(photo thuds)

- Enjoy this moment.

Might be the only time a black man gets

To stick a knife in the president and not get hung for it.

(dramatic music continues)

That's everything, mrs. Madison.

- Something has happened to him.

It must have, he'd have been here.

- I know you want to wait, ma'am, but I have to tell you,

Unless you come now,

I'll be forced to pick you up myself

And suffer the consequences later.

- If I were a man, I'd post a can on every window

The white house would fight to the bitter end.

- I know you would. Now, let's get going.

(suspenseful music)

- She really does stay longer

Than she probably should have.

She could have been captured as a prisoner of war

And paraded through the streets of london.

(horse sputters)

- She finally leaves, and just in the nick of time.

(horse neighing)

- Dolley.

(dramatic music)

Dolley!

Dolley!

Anyone?

Anyone?

(clock ticking) (music stops)

What the hell is going on here?

(footsteps thudding)

(dramatic music)

(james sighs)

I'll have you hung for this, go, now!

- By the time james madison

Gets back to the white house,

Dolley has already left,

And there will be looters who'd start raiding

The white house for any goods that they can find.

- Eventually madison leaves,

He goes to a town in maryland called brookville.

(stressful music)

- And once the british pass bladensburg,

That is effectively the final resistance

The british meet.

- [paul] the british enter the white house,

And the first thing they do is have a party.

Dolley's left them with dinner.

- They sit down.

It's the famous last dinner party where they all sit around.

They wonder if the food's been poisoned,

But they drink it and eat anyway.

- [paul] and it was only then after enjoying themselves

That they decided to set fire to the white house.

- Put that food down!

The general has ordered us

To torch the place, now!

For king george!

(fire crackling)

Let's go!

(stressful music continues)

- They'd start burning public buildings

And really terrorized washington for about 24 hours.

- It was the burning of the white house itself

That was really the symbol of the entire war.

The white house, the symbol of the nation,

Torched by an invading army.

(music ends)

(horse galloping)

(somber music)

(door squeaks) (dolley panting)

- Please be here.

Please be here.

(somber music continues)

James madison, you are a fool, a damn fool.

You swore you would go nowhere near the fighting.

- Didn't I tell you to leave the presidential house

Before the british arrived?

- You did.

I changed my mind.

(thunder booming)

That doesn't sound good, cannons.

- No, it's a, it's a storm.

Hopefully it'll slow the british down.

Let's hunker here till it passes.

- [richard] the british are holding washington,

But one thing that encourages them to leave is a hurricane

The following day with hellacious storm, rain, winds.

- [paul] they called it the storm that saved washington

Because it helped put out all the fires.

And to some, it was as if there had been divine intervention

To spare america.

(soft music)

(footsteps thudding)

(soft music)

- It appears the british are less than considerate guests.

- They return to the white house

About three days later to a very different city.

The capitol had been destroyed.

Numerous other federal buildings had also been torched.

And although that the shell of the white house remained,

It was uninhabitable.

- They even took president washington's portrait.

Bastards.

- Oh no, that was me.

It's still somewhere safe.

- The british don't know how lucky they are

That you left before they arrived.

Well, I mean, if that's what you did to washington, then.

- You can imagine what's going on

Through james madison's mind at the time.

The symbolism of the capital

Falling under james madison's watch

Would've been just utterly devastating.

- He was jeered in the press.

Jeered, in fact, in the streets.

- Tell the truth for me, jimmy.

Do you think the senate really means us

To abandon washington forever?

- You're scared.

- Truth.

- After the attack on washington dc,

A lot of people believe now that washington lay too exposed.

- There was talk about relocating the nation's capital

Much further inland.

The city of cincinnati in ohio was discussed.

- There was a time when we first arrived in washington

And I thought,

"surely, this can't be the new home

Of our great nation.

W-what?

A great big pile of bricks dropped onto a swamp?

Honestly, james,

I would've hitched up my skirt

And run all the way back to montpelier

If someone had told me there was no shame in it.

But now,

This building, the capital,

Are symbols of everything we're trying to build.

The british tried to destroy it,

But here we are, still standing.

If we abandon washington now, they will have won.

- Then we must fight for it, my dear.

(glass clinks) (people chattering)

When we first arrived in washington many years ago,

Well it's safe to say that we were surprised.

I lost a good pair of shoes

Helping to push my carriage

Across the stream on the outskirts of town.

And a couple of men threw a bottle at my head from the steps

Of the local tavern as we finally arrived.

- It's too bad they missed!

(group chuckles)

- And then we saw the president's house.

Under john adams, the water closet was outside,

The steps were half built,

And I do believe that mrs. Adams was forced

To hang the washing from the east room.

Jefferson finished the stairs

And got some fancy privies built inside the house.

And when,

When my wife and I moved to the president's house,

Dolley made it into the most beautiful home in america

With some of the best parties too.

But then the british paid us a visit

And burnt it all down to the ground.

If the presidential palace were a dog,

You'd put it down, the senate building too.

Now, we know that most of you think

That that is the right thing to do,

Leave washington and return government

And this residence to philadelphia.

But that is not a vision I subscribe to,

And neither does he.

(soft music)

(dramatic music) (crowd gasps)

- George washington united this nation

And defeated the british.

It was his will that this new nation have its capital here

And that the president should live right here.

Now I ask you, would washington run

With his tail between his legs back to philadelphia?

- [crowd] no.

- My husband and I ask that you back new plans

To rebuild this city so it becomes even greater,

A shining beacon that no other nation can ever destroy.

And that beautiful white house

Will be the beating heart of our nation.

A home

For all of us,

Forever.

- [crowd] forever!

(audience applauding)

- Do you really think this place can be rebuilt, jimmy?

It's fit to collapse and blacker than a coal mine.

White really isn't a very practical color for a building.

- Oh, I don't doubt it can be rebuilt.

We're concerned about the next inhabitants.

Seems that this house is a lightning rod for trouble.

(inspiring music)

(crowd yelling)

(onlookers laughing)

(bright music)

(logo sputtering)

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