In the real world, the British Army briefly occupied Washington, D.C. on August 24th-25th, 1814. The White House, the Capitol Building, the Treasury were burned. A storm blew in overnight, keeping the damage from being worse than it all could have been.
In this world I've created, no storm blows through. In addition, the British set fire to more buildings, and much more of the District of Colombia is destroyed. This, in addition to British victories at Baltimore and New Orleans, lead to a nation kicked in the gut and facing bitter defeat and territorial losses. On the 19th of October, 1814, Congress votes to keep the capital in Philadelphia for five years. By the time 1819 comes along, new forces were afoot and the capital would end up along the Ohio River, and the course of the nation began taking numerous different turns, creating a completely new world.
The header image for this website was created using the website Canva, and includes nine AI-generated images that help illustrate this timeline:
Left, going clockwise from the top left: The destruction of Manhattan during the War Between the States, c. 1857; Queen Charlotte II, c. 1910; Communalist revolutionaries on the streets of Paris, c. 1903; President Henry Freeman, the nation's first elected African-American president, c. 1942.
Center: British troops burn the President's House in old Washington City, c. 1814.
Right, going clockwise from the top left: President Georgina Lincoln, the nation's first female president - and the first from the communalist party, c. 1960; Community organizers react to President Jesse Pike announcing the legalization of same-sex marriage, c. 1983; Painting of President Peter Landon, the first African-American to hold that office, taking the oath of office following following the death of President Alexander Fleak, c. 1903; Women voting in the 1900 mid-term elections, mere months after the constitutional amendment granting women's suffrage was passed.