So first a little background. The Star-Spangled Banner, or rather 'Defence of Fort M’Henry' was written on September 14, 1814, by Francis Scott Key. The War of 1812 was a "war" between the US and the British. He was said to be inspired looking through his spyglass to see the American flag survived a night of heavy bombardment (whether this is how it actually happened is unknown)
The later coined Star-Spangled Banner became the national anthem a little over a century after it was written. Basically every American and many foreigners know the words.
But, did you know that we only sing the first verse? In fact, there are four total verses. The third is where we get into some trouble in the modern world.
[i]"And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
[u]No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:[/u]
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave"[/i]
While the entire song is inherently anti-British, the third stanza was a call for execution of the mercenaries and slaves who fought for the British side during the war, as well as the cruelty of the British themselves, often forcing them to fight in the front lines.
The third stanza is why we have certain athletes not standing for the nation anthem, right or not. I don't have an opinion either way because it is not sung anymore, I just wanted to share the information here.
Hope you found this interesting!
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1 ReplyThe more you know