Back in the days where people were not afraid to show their patriotism, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem called “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” The occasion was the War of 1812, and the British were shelling the American fort. Key was on one of the British ships working out arrangements for a prisoner exchange, and was inspired at “dawn’s early light” the next morning when he saw the American flag waving defiantly from its standard at the fort. He wrote the poem, which soon was published in Baltimore newspapers with a note that it was to be sung to the tune of “To Anacreon In Heaven,” the theme song of an amateur music club in London.
The song has not been without controversy. We recall back in our school days reading in The Weekly Reader or Senior Scholastic of campaigns to replace the song. Some objected to its martial lyrics but most of all, folks objected because the song was difficult to sing. Back then the alternatives suggested as a new National Anthem were such well-known patriotic songs as “America the Beautiful” or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The latter has a couple of verses that are pretty warlike in nature, so that alternative didn’t really get off the ground. And so many folks loved “The Star-Spangled Banner” that any movement to replace it was doomed to fail.
However, the world has changed since the death of George Floyd, and since all of our history is being challenged, the progressive left wants a new anthem; especially after learning that Francis Scott Key was a slaveholder. The progressives have suggested such ridiculous and inappropriate songs as John Lennon’s “Imagine” or Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me.” Considering the way that George Floyd died, the latter song seems especially inappropriate.
And, yes, Francis Scott Key was a slaveholder from a slaveholding family, but he was an opponent of trafficking in slaves, and as a lawyer he donated his services to (and won several cases for) Blacks who were seeking their freedom under a law (passed in 1783) that banned slaveholders from other states from bringing their slaves into Maryland. He also prevented a White mob from lynching a Black man accused of attempting to kill his mistress – even though Key prosecuted the case. People are complex, and if we can be forgiven for writing this, the world is not all black or white. Each life has its moments of pride and achievement and of shame and failure, and to judge anyone by only the latter – and particularly when the context of the times is disregarded – is unfair.
Well, we are among the tens of millions of Americans who love our National Anthem, and hope that it remains as a unifying force that connects us to our past while inspiring Americans with patriotic fervor. We love all the lyrics, but our favorite verse is not the first one, that has been sung at the opening of events and on public occasions for many years; but the fourth:
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace may the heav’n rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto – “In God Is Our Trust,” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Tough to read or sing that verse and not have a tear in one’s eye or a lump in one’s throat. And neither John Lennon nor Bill Withers ever wrote anything as powerful or as meaningful.
And, by the way, not only did Francis Scott Key write the words for our National Anthem, but sharp-eyed readers will see that he also wrote the basis for America’s National Motto, “In God We Trust.” The progressives don’t like that one either, but they object to anything that unites Americans, preferring of course to separate us from our heritage and to divide us from each other as much as possible.
It is pretty easy to “take a knee” for our National Anthem, since there is no legal penalty for it, just as one can burn the US flag without fear of arrest. But we still remember that day (April 25, 1976) in Dodger Stadium when Chicago Cub outfielder Rick Monday ran over and swooped away the American flag before two progressives were able to burn it. And the crowd roared its approval of Monday’s actions. Today he would be denounced by the left. That game began with the National Anthem, and no one took a knee. How far have we come in 44 years!