Consider background of anthem writer

With all the current controversy regarding standing during the playing of our national anthem, I thought I would do some anthem research. This is what I learned. In March of 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional resolution making “The Star Spangled Banner” our official national anthem.

The words are from a poem written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. The music comes from a British drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key called his poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry.”

The poem has several verses. Only the first verse is in the anthem. All verses end with these words; “O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

But when Key wrote those words, he knew they were not true. He knew that not everyone in the United States was free. He knew that slaves were not free. In fact, Key was a pro-slavery lawyer who ardently represented slave owners. He believed that slaves were not people, they were property and, as such, could be bought and sold.

That was confirmed by the United States Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision.

The chief justice of that court was Roger B. Taney. His brother-in-law was Francis Scott Key. American author William Faulkner was right when he said; “History is not was, it is.” The anthem controversy proves Faulkner’s words Jim Smith Lorain