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Complete version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (AKA the National Anthem) by Francis Scott Key
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright
stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that
our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half
conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
'Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
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 wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!!
I'm posting this because this country is headed for an all out nonsensical race war!
Let's talk some facts. This poem was written on September 13th 1814 During the war of 1812 after 25 hours of the bombarment of Fort McHenery. Key wrote this poem when "in the dawns early light" he saw the American flag NOT the Union Jack, waving, indicating an American war won.
The last stanza of this poem speaks of freemen ,in those days freemen was a reference to black people, and how they too fought along with white soilders so this country could be free from British tyranny.
And then in 1861 The Civil War began. it was a long fought war where once again whites people and black people fought together.
Black Confederate military units, both as freemen and slaves, fought federal troops.
Louisiana free blacks gave their reason for fighting in a letter written to New Orleans' Daily Delta: "The free colored population love their home, their property, their own slaves and recognize no
other country than Louisiana, and are ready to shed their blood for her defense. They have no sympathy for Abolitionism; no love for the North, but they have plenty for Louisiana. They will fight for her in 1861 as they fought in 1814-15." As to bravery, one black scolded the commanding general of the state militia, saying, "Pardon me, general, but the only cowardly blood we have got in our veins is the white blood."
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest had slaves and freemen serving in units under his command. After the war, Forrest said of the black men who served under him, "These boys stayed with me..
To some southerners, thier slaves weren't just slaves, they were family! Loved and cared for. Even after the Civil war and the Emancipation Proclamition was signed and ratified some "slaves" chose to stay with the plantation owners as indentured servants because that's the ONLY life and family they had ever known. It's been a 152 years since the Civil War was fought and while yeah racism still exits in some peoples small minds it's not in the hearts of everyone's. Instead of burning bridges with anger and hate towards each other, let's build bridges with love and understanding, become AT&T and reach out to each other and just say hi. And to the people
who have hate in your heart for people...let me be the first to be Eddy Murphy and say...HAVE A COKE AND SMILE AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!
(If you see me as a racist for this YOU'RE the racist, there is absolutely NOTHING here that's racist, just some basic historical facts.
