Nazareth Academy Grade School Celebrates The 200th Anniversary
of the Star Spangled Banner at our 14th Annual Grandparents and
Older Friends Day
Slide 3
According to popular legend, the first American flag was made
by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress who was acquainted with
George Washington, leader of the Continental Army, and other
influential Philadelphians. In May 1776, General Washington and two
representatives from the Continental Congress visited Ross at her
upholstery shop and showed her a rough design of the flag.
Slide 4
The first unofficial national flag, called the Grand Union Flag
or the Continental Colours, was raised at the behest of General
Washington near his headquarters outside Boston, Mass., on Jan. 1,
1776. The flag had 13 alternating red and white horizontal stripes
and the British Union Flag in the canton. Another early flag had a
rattlesnake and the motto Don't Tread on Me. The first official
national flag, also known as the Stars and Stripes, was approved by
the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The banner contained 13
stars, representing the original 13 colonies. After Vermont and
Kentucky were admitted to the Union in 1791 and 1792, two more
stars and two more stripes were added in 1795.
Slide 5
In 1812, Mary Pickersgill, one of the best flag makers in
Baltimore, received a rush order from Major George Armistead. Newly
installed as commander of Fort McHenry, the Major wanted an
enormous 42 by 30 foot banner to be flown over the fort guarding
the entrance to Baltimore's waterfront. When Mary needed a larger
floor space for the project, she used the malt house of a local
brewery. It took about seven weeks to complete the huge red, white
and blue flag. There was some urgency to Armistead's request. The
United States had declared war in June 1812 with Britain and
Ireland to settle disputes on the northern and western
borders.
Slide 6
The Star Spangled Banner poem was inspired by the events of the
Battle of Baltimore, one of the key moments in the War of 1812 that
took place at Fort McHenry. The fort was named after early American
statesman James McHenry, a Scottish-Irish immigrant, surgeon and
soldier. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from
Maryland, a signer of the United States Constitution, and United
States Secretary of War from 17961800, serving under Presidents
George Washington and John Adams. Fort McHenry was built between
1798 and 1800. The new fort's purpose was to improve the defenses
of the increasingly important Port of Baltimore from future enemy
attacks. It was constructed in the form of a five-pointed star
surrounded by a dry moat, which would serve as a defense from a
land attack. Each point of the structure could provide a crossfire
of cannon and small arms fire.
Slide 7
Following their successful campaign against the Americans in
Washington DC, British forces under Vice Admiral Sir Alexander
Cochrane and Major General Robert Ross advanced up the Chesapeake
Bay to attack Baltimore, Maryland. A vital port city, Baltimore was
believed by the British to be the base of many of the American
privateers that were attacking British ships. To take the city, the
British planned a two-prong attack with one ship landing at North
Point and advancing overland, while the latter attacked Fort
McHenry and the harbor defenses by water.
Slide 8
On September 12, 1814, the day before the planned attack,
American attorney Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner set
sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag of
truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their
mission was to secure the exchange of prisoners. Francis Scott Key
and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant and spoke with
Major General Ross and Vice Admiral Cochrane. During their meeting,
Key and Skinner overheard the British officers discussing plans for
the attack on Baltimore. Because the Americans knew when the attack
was planned, they were held captive until after the battle.
Slide 9
There were 1,000 American soldiers at Fort McHenry, who were
led by Major General Samuel Smith and Major George Armistead.
Twenty canon guns were positioned facing the harbor to defend the
fort from the British attack. The British fleet consisted of 19
ships and 5,000 soldiers. Fortunately, the British ships were
hampered by shallow waters which hampered the heaviest ships from
coming close to shore. The 1,200 British soldiers on the ground
were stunned to face 12,000 American soldiers defending the city of
Baltimore.
Slide 10
During the rainy night, Francis Scott Key had witnessed the
bombardment and observed that the forts flag continued to fly, but
once the shell and rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know
how the battle had turned out until dawn. When the sun finally rose
on the morning of September 14, 1812, both Key and Skinner were
amazed to see that the larger red, white and blue flag had been
raised. The Americans had forced the British to retreat and the
city of Baltimore was secure!
Slide 11
The American flag was clearly visible to all of the ships in
the river.
Slide 12
Moved to write during the fort's heroic defense, Francis Scott
Key composed the words to the tune old drinking song entitled To
Anacreon in Heaven. Initially published after the battle as the
Defense of Fort McHenry, it eventually became known as the Star
Spangled Banner.
Slide 13
The song gained popularity throughout the 19th century and
bands played it during public events, such as July 4th
celebrations. On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F.
Tracy signed a General Order, making "The Star Spangled Banner" the
official tune to be played at the raising of the flag. Evidence
shows that the "Star Spangled Banner" was performed as early as
1897 at opening day baseball ceremonies in Philadelphia!! In 1916,
President Woodrow Wilson ordered that "The Star Spangled Banner" be
played at military and other appropriate occasions. The tradition
of performing the national anthem before every baseball game began
in World War II.
Slide 14
On November 3, 1929, Robert Ripley drew a panel in his
syndicated cartoon, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, saying "Believe It
or Not, America has no national anthem". In 1931, John Philip Sousa
published his opinion in favor, stating that "it is the spirit of
the music that inspires" as much as it is Key's "soul-stirring"
words. By a law signed on March 3, 1931 by President Herbert
Hoover, "The Star Spangled Banner" was adopted as the national
anthem of the United States of America.
Slide 15
There are four stanzas to the Star Spangled Banner poem, but
only the first eight lines are traditionally sung as our Anthem. O!
say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright
stars through the perilous fight, O'er 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 O'er
the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Slide 16
The flag that flew over Fort McHenry was kept by the family
Major Armistead for years, who occasionally gave away pieces of the
flag as souvenirs and gifts. Cutting, deterioration and continued
use reduced several feet of fabric from the flag's fly end, and it
measured 30 by 34 feet. The fifteenth star was also given as a
gift, but its recipient and current whereabouts are unknown.
Slide 17
The flag was given to the Smithsonian in 1912, and has
undergone multiple restoration efforts that included removing of a
linen backing and addition of the missing white star. Today it is
permanently housed in the National Museum of American History, one
of the Smithsonian Institution museums on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C. In addition to the original flag on display, the
Smithsonian features pieces from the flag that had been snipped off
over the years as patriotic mementos.
Slide 18
Fort McHenry was made a national park in 1925; on August 11,
1939, it was re-designated a "National Monument and Historic
Shrine," the only such doubly designated place in the United
States. The fort was placed on the National Register of Historic
Places on October 15, 1966. It has become national tradition that
when a new flag is designed it first flies over Fort McHenry. The
first official 49- and 50-star American flags were flown over the
fort and are still located on the premises
Slide 19
Since 1939, the American flag has been the symbol of freedom,
hope and peace. The photo of soldiers struggling to put up the flag
on Iwo Jima island in 1945 still inspires us all. The flag also
stood as a constant reminder of freedom during the Korean War and
the Vietnam War.
Slide 20
After landing on the moon in 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong
installed our flag on the moons surface. The flag was ever-present
during the 1980 Olympic games when the Americans defeated the
Russian Ice Hockey Team and was also proudly placed on top of Mount
Everest.
Slide 21
In times of grief and loss, the flag has been a symbol of hope,
as it was on September 11, 2001.
Slide 22
Our Star Spangled Banner stands for the five fundamental rights
of American citizens: The Freedom of Speech, The Freedom of Press,
The Freedom of Religion, The Freedom of Petition and the Freedom of
Assembly. Most importantly, the flag a constant reminder of
ancestors, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles who have made
the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom and constitutional
rights. God bless all those who continue to serve in the
military!
Slide 23
Just two weeks ago, on September 14, 2014, a replica of the
original Star-Spangled Banner was hoisted during the Dawns Early
Light Ceremony at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The ceremony
commemorated the date and time 200 years ago that Francis Scott Key
was inspired to write the words that would become the National
Anthem.
Slide 24
Long before our Nations flag flew to the moon, waved over the
White House or was folded into tight triangles at Arlington
National Cemetery; before it sparked fiery political debates,
reached the North Pole or the summit of Mount Everest; before it
became a lapel fixture, testified to the Marines' possession of Iwo
Jima, or fluttered over front porches, fire trucks and construction
cranes; before it inspired a national anthem or recruiting posters
for two world wars, the American ensign was just a flag.
Slide 25
"There was nothing special about it," says Scott S. Sheads, a
historian at Baltimore's Fort McHenry National Monument and
Historic Shrine, speaking of a time when a new nation was
struggling for survival and groping toward a collective identity.
That all changed in 1813, when one enormous flag, pieced together
on the floor of a Baltimore brewery, was first hoisted over Fort
McHenry. In time the banner would take on larger meaning, set on a
path to glory by a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key, passing
into one family's private possession and emerging as a public
treasure.