This World and Me

The Star-Spangled Banner is a unique national anthem because it doesn't talk primarily of the country it represents, or of its government, people, or power. Rather, the Star-Spangled Banner talks almost exclusively about the young nation's flag . The current flag of the United States. The lyrics were written under exquisite circumstances: The Americans were fighting the British a second time after the American Revolution in the war called the "War of 1812". The British had captured a number of Americans and were holding them as prisoners. The U.S. dispatched Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner on a boat flying a flag of truce. They then boarded a British ship to attempt to negotiate the exchange of prisoners. The negotiations were eventually successful, and the prisoners were eventually exchanged; however, the U.S. negotiators were told about the British's plan to attack the U.S. at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Consequently, Francis Scott Key...