I'm guessing your school completely skipped over the War of 1812, just like mine did.

The War of 1812 involved the US trying to "liberate" Canada from Britain. Trouble was, Loyalists in the colonies moved to Canada to stay Britain. If your school was like mine, they mentioned "that time the British burned the White House," making it sound like some Red Coats showed up, committed arson, and left. No, that was Canada, in the War of 1812, fighting to maintain their independence from the US and their union with Britain.

So, uh, they tried. They failed.