If things had been a little different, ‘ Hail, Columbia’, ‘ America the Beautiful’, or even ‘ My Country, ’Tis of Thee’ were all contenders for that honour. So, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ started life as a poem called ‘The Defence of Fort M’Henry’, was written not by one of America’s leading poets of the day but by an amateur, and – despite being written in 1814 – only became the official US national anthem in 1931. These words, of course, have become famous beyond the poem (or song): many people refer to the United States as the ‘land of the free’, especially.
#Lyrics of the star spangled banner song free
(Ironically, in light of the circumstances surrounding the composition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, ‘Rule, Britannia’ is about the might of the British navy: ‘Britannia, rule the waves’.) Throughout ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, Francis Scott Key uses the refrain, ‘O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave’. This is a message carried by many other national anthems, unofficial or otherwise: one of Britain’s most popular national songs (although not its national anthem), ‘ Rule, Britannia’, proudly proclaims that ‘Britons never, never, never shall be slaves’. The US flag with its stars and stripes waves freely over the land of the free, declaring America’s freedom from tyranny or oppression at the hands of another power. (It’s worth bearing in mind that less than forty years earlier, the United States was still fighting a war with Britain over US independence.) But, in a clever image, Key says that the confident footprints the British left as they marched to attack the American fort have been washed away by the blood of the British wounded and slain it’s a neat metaphor that encapsulates the idea of arrogance being destroyed by humiliating defeat.īut freedom is the message that shines through more than any other. Where the second stanza called the British fleet a ‘haughty host’, suggesting it was sheer arrogance and superiority which led the Brits to attack Baltimore Harbour and Fort McHenry, Key continues this line of argument in the third stanza: the British navy ‘vauntingly swore’ that the confusion of battle would leave the Americans without a home or a country. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. No refuge could save the hireling and slaveįrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,Ī home and a country, should leave us no more? These videos are part of Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, which challenges us to examine the truth about where we started as a country, where we are, and where we want to end up. To learn more visit where is that band who so vauntingly swore of Britains most popular national songs (although not its national anthem). On June 19, 2018, Culture Project, Off Center Productions, and Liberated People brought Jeffery Robinson’s renowned talk on the history of racism to the New York stage. Here are the words to The Star-Spangled Banner, along with some words of. The truth is not always pleasant, but it is always the truth. This is the story of Francis Scott Key and the writing of a poem that became the national anthem.Īs you celebrate Independence Day, ask yourself if, as Americans, we have the courage to admit when something is really wrong with one of our traditions. Key believed that anyone who would consider abolishing slavery was willing to “associate and amalgamate with the Negro.” And to him that justified execution. Some people try to claim he was writing about some other group of “slaves,” but there is no historical evidence that “slave” referred to anyone other than black enslaved people, whom Key viewed as “a distinct and inferior race of people, which experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts the community.” As a prosecutor in DC, Key sought the death penalty for a man who possessed abolitionist literature. His message to the blacks fighting for freedom was unmistakable-we will hunt you down and the search will leave you in terror because, when we find you, your next stop is the gloom of the grave.
No refuge could save the hireling and slaveįrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave In the third verse, Key had a special message for the enslaved people who had dared to fight for freedom-we will pursue you to get revenge: After seeing the White House burn and the fort survive, Key became so moved that he wrote a poem that became the national anthem. In September, Key also witnessed 25 hours of continuous British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore.