British embassy sparks controversy by celebrating 200th anniversary of day Canadians helped burn White House

The British embassy in Washington, D.C., was forced to apologize Sunday for a tweet playfully commemorating the 200th anniversary of the burning of the White House, when troops from present-day Canada ransacked the presidential palace.

Commemorating the 200th anniversary of burning the White House. Only sparklers this time! http://t.co/QIDBQTBmmL

—
British Embassy (@UKinUSA) August 24, 2014

Today UK-US celebrate #specialrelationship & work together shoulder to shoulder across the globe. #WarOf1812 #UKUSrelations

—
British Embassy (@UKinUSA) August 24, 2014

The embassy’s official Twitter account drew the ire of many Americans when it poked fun at the events of Aug. 24, 1814 when British troops briefly occupied the American capital at the height of the War of 1812 between the two countries. President James Madison had already fled his official residence for the safety of Maryland when the Redcoats marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and found the White House empty. They dined, then looted and vandalized the building before piling up furniture and torching the place.

On Sunday, the @UKinUSA account posted a photo of a cake with a miniature White House on top, with a caption that read: “Commemorating the 200th anniversary of burning the White House. Only sparklers this time!”

The embassy apologized for the joke two hours later, following many outraged tweets from Americans who didn’t find the episode quite as funny.

“Apologies for earlier Tweet,” the embassy said. “We meant to mark an event in history & celebrate our strong friendship today.”

Of course, many Canadians also take some impish pride in the destruction of the White House, largely viewed as retaliation for an attack on York (present-day Toronto) two years earlier.

The War of 1812 holds a peculiar place in both American and Canadian/British histories since both sides came out of the war with a stronger sense of national identity.

For the Americans, who launched the war as an attempt to annex Upper and Lower Canada, it was proof their young nation could take on the powerful British empire. The war even birthed their “Star-Spangled Banner” national anthem. North of the border, repelling the American attack helped instill in the British subjects a nascent sense of national identity as Canadians, and helped pave the way for Confederation half a century later.

Maybe torching the White House was the best thing we ever did.