America and Britain Almost Went to War Over a Pig

In 1859, an American farmer shot a pig that kept eating his potatoes. Within weeks, hundreds of US soldiers and five British warships were facing off on a tiny island, and two of the biggest powers on Earth were one nervous trigger finger away from war. This is the Pig War: a border argument, a very hungry boar, the worst student at West Point, the most sensible admiral in history, and 12 years of parties. And it's the reason US park rangers raise the British flag every single day. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Why the US raises the British flag 0:49 One channel… there were two 2:02 Then the sheep arrived 3:42 Meet Lyman Cutlar 4:22 June 15, 1859: the pig 5:25 The US Army arrives 6:49 The Royal Navy shows up 8:12 The standoff 10:00 How close this came to a real war 10:55 General Scott calms everyone down 12:17 Twelve years of parties 13:34 The Kaiser decides 14:44 The scoreboard 15:28 The park today (and the OTHER Pig War) 16:07 Next time on Pawns of History 📚 SOURCES National Park Service: The Pig War: https://www.nps.gov/sajh/learn/histor... HistoryLink: San Juan Island Pig War: https://www.historylink.org/File/5724 HistoryLink: The Pig War: https://www.historylink.org/File/20385 Pig War (1859): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War...) Pig War (1906–1908): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War...) Narration voiced with AI (ElevenLabs). Animation, music and sound design made for Pawns of History. New episodes of history's weirdest wars, feuds and blunders. Subscribe so you don't miss France coming back for seconds. 🥐 #PigWar #History #PawnsOfHistory #AnimatedHistory #SanJuanIsland #HistoryFacts