[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 685 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 
  Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration 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 together 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;
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 Battle 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 December 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 bombardment 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 ending the War of 1812;
Whereas General Andrew Jackson, who would later become the seventh President of 
        the United States, won the Battle 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, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes 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.
                                 <all>