The 4th of July: celebrations, fireworks, water sports, beer, beach parties and barbeques. It is an American celebration bandwagon almost everyone wants a seat on-in one form or another. A quite 4th does not work well-as it does for say Memorial Day, Labor Day or Veterans Day. It is about rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air, and other displays of patriotism or debauchery-maybe a little of both. No wait; those were Francis Scott Keys words, scribbled on an old envelope, during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the war of 1812, which would later become The Star Spangled Banner.
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress on this date in 1776. (It would not be until almost 13 years later that George Washington would be inaugurated as our first president) Our founding fathers spent the next 15 years from that 1st Independence Day revising the Articles of Confederation; ratifying the Constitution-state by state; proposing and approving amendments; holding constitutional conventions and establishing the courts. (Cornwallis would surrender at Yorktown, ending British military action in Oct 1781; leading to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in which Great Britain recognized the colonists independence.) I wonder if
pop up displays had been in existence, if Mr. Madison would have enlisted one (with great graphics) to display the proposed Bill of Rights to the House of Representatives in 1789. Perhaps he would have gone all out, displaying all the- now treasured- documents with modular displays to create an atmosphere of a reading library. We will never know.
What we do know is that the war of 1812 was the 1st Declaration of War by The United States of America; having the closest vote in senate history for such, led some to call it Madisons War. In the Chesapeake Campaign, the Brits nearly burned the nations capital down in Aug 1814. (A storm swept thru the capital later that eve, causing more destruction but extinguishing the fires with torrential rain.) The British left Washington to next capture Baltimore, a busy port and key base for American privateers.
The Battle of Baltimore began with the British landing at North Point, where they were met by American militia. The British also attempted to attack Baltimore by sea, but were unable to reduce Fort McHenry, at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor. British guns had range on American cannon, and stood off out of range, bombarding the fort, which returned no fire. Their plan was to coordinate with a land force, but from that distance coordination proved impossible, so the Brits called off the attack and left. All the lights were extinguished in Baltimore the night of the attack, and the fort was bombarded for 25 hours. The only light was given off by the exploding shells over Fort McHenry, illuminating the flag that was still flying over the fort. Seeing Old Glory still waving above the smoke and ash inspired the American lawyer, Francis Scott Key to write a poem that would eventually supply the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner.
And that is the birthing story [from Wiki] of our national anthem. Some for reasons of faith or reasons of treason- choose not to participate in paying homage to our flag by joining in this song. That is fine; they are free to do so because countless men (and women) have shed their blood on battlegrounds all over the globe to ensure so. But I do find it as an oxymoronic, paradoxical reversal of poetic justice. As for me, I will make a pop up display of my patriotism- as the last word, of the last stanza, barely escapes my lips before they yell, Play Ball. I will have a hot dog and a beer, and let the silent ones in the crowd eat pie (apple or otherwise).
