In this episode, John covers the first year of the War of 1812 and why it was such a struggle for the United States. John begins by talking about how the Madison Administration and the Congress prepared—or rather, did not—for the war against Great Britain. John discusses the state of the land and sea forces as the U.S. went to war, what Madison and Congress chose to do to prosecute the war and why they made the choices that they did.

John goes on to break down the planned invasion of Canada in 1812, how those who planned it and executed it conceived of it, why everyone was so convinced it would be so easy and why they were all very, very wrong. John goes through the war at sea as well, including surprising American victories against the vaunted British Royal Navy and the ways in which the blockade the British attempted to institute was ineffective. John further discusses the war on the frontier against Native Americans, and the severe difficulties that the U.S. had in financing the war. Finally, John discusses the Baltimore riots of 1812 and the presidential election that took place that year, in spite of the war.