The Accurate Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner

have you ever gone to an athletic event and as someone was singing the national anthem the people around you were not even paying attention they didn't have their hand over their heart they hadn't removed a hat from their head perhaps they were chatting with a friend and not even looking at the flag just disengaged and disconnected in a sense by their casualness they weren't just disrespecting the national anthem they were disrespecting the men and women in the armed forces who have valiantly served our country those who've bled and died defending the freedoms of our nation it is my belief that if you knew if you only knew the story behind the star-spangled banner it would cause you to stand at attention almost like a soldier yourself with reverence and gratitude you would sing the anthem with all of your heart and in so doing you would be telling the world how grateful you are to live in the greatest nation in the world the united states of america let me tell you the story behind the star-spangled banner there was a young lawyer by the name of francis scott key who lived in baltimore maryland in the early 1800s at the time our nation was engaged in vicious conflict with britain after the revolutionary war the british had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the united states and up until 1814 they had been on the defensive but in august 1814 determined not to be embarrassed again the british saw their opportunity to get on the offensive they exacted their revenge by capturing our nation's capital washington dc chasing president madison and his wife from the city and burning many of our government buildings then the british headed to baltimore the nation's third most populated city to attack a fort called fort mchenry along the way britain had accumulated prisoners and we know that some of the prisoners had been placed aboard those british warships one of the prisoners was a man named dr william beams dr beans had many prominent friends and neighbors who enlisted the services of one francis scott key to negotiate with the british for his release francis scott key agreed and arranged to have colonel john skinner american agent for prisoner exchange accompany him on the appointed day the men rode out in a little boat and boarded a british ship to secure the release of dr beans after nearly a week of negotiations they were successful that's the good news the bad news is that the british decided that they were first going to attack fort mchenry and that they wouldn't release any prisoner until after the fort had been destroyed you see fort mchenry was a strategically located military base which was defended by a thousand men it stood on the end of a peninsula guarding the city of baltimore and the british knew that the defeat of fort mchenry and its thousand men would serve as another demoralizing event for the americans so the plan of the british were fleet which included some 16 to 19 warships was to mercilessly fire their superior weapons and completely annihilate fort mchenry then the british could send in its lighter ships up into the harbor and begin to bombard the rest of baltimore this is a critical moment in the history of our young nation for even though we had become a sovereign nation in 1776 the united states was still fighting for total independence from the british due to britain's interference and our expansion trade and other freedoms on september 13 1814 as morning dawned and as the haze hung over the ocean their british war fleet was unleashed boom boom boom boom for one hour two hours five hours ten hours boom boom the guns raged the sound must have been deafening boom boom boom for 12 hours 15 hours 20 hours for 24 hours the british warfleet pounded fort mchenry relentlessly with no relief in sight the americans inside fort mchenry were unable to respond because their guns were not as powerful as the british artillery witnessing the bombardment it must have looked like a spectacular fireworks display francis scott key he paced the ship all night long back and forth at times he could see the american flag in the illuminated red glare of each bomb no doubt if he had seen a white flag waving he would have known that the americans were surrendering but as long as he could see the red white and blue flag waving he knew that the men inside that fort were not giving up don't you believe that there had to be some prisoners on board some of those warships who were wondering is the flag still there is the flag still there is the flag still there because you see that flag stood for the united states of america it was that flag that stood for the freedoms that our nation cherishes today it was that flag that stood for the men and women who died to give us our independence well after more than 24 hours of constant bombardment finally there was silence and as morning dawned on september 14 1814 when the heavy mist and the smoke from the gunfire had lifted their standing proudly flying high above the rampart blowing back and forth in the wind was the huge 30 foot by 42 foot american flag major george armistead the commander of fort mchenry had commissioned a widow to make this flag he wanted it to be so large that the british wouldn't have any trouble seeing it from the distance waving proudly miraculously the damage to the fort was minimal of the one thousand soldiers four were killed the united states did not yield and the british eventually withdrew from the baltimore harbor deeming the battle to be too costly the tide of the war was reversed there at the battle of fort mchenry just a few months later a peace treaty was signed between the united states and britain it was upon the release of the prisoners that francis scott key made his way back into baltimore and after such a dramatic and emotional occasion the young lawyer was inspired to pen the following words oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we held at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave or the land of the free and the home of the brave it is my prayer that whenever we see the flag which represents the united states of america and whenever we hear the words of the star-spangled banner as it is sung that we would stand in reverence for the miraculous events of that night in 1814 to honor the courageous men and women who have fought to keep our flag waving may we always stand may we always remove our hats may we always place our hand over our hearts and may we always sing with all of our heart as we give honor and respect to the flag and to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation of ours the united states of america you

Channel: Dudley Rutherford

Views: 1,060,236

Keywords: Dudley Rutherford, Shepherd of the Hills, Patriotism, Country, Pride, USA Flag, Pastor Dudley, Pastor Dudley Rutherford

Id: 6hZe8CPGA1E

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Fri May 20 2011