Land of the Free, Home to the Slave

The following piece is what I am calling a “gathered poem.” All words are direct quotes by slave owner and anti-abolitionist, Francis Scott Key. I’m putting these words together to contrast the blind patriotism often eagerly bestowed to the national anthem with the blatant racism of its writer to highlight the need to relegate this song to the scrap barrel of history.

 

The words in red are from his 1814 poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which was put to music to become “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It would not become the national anthem until 1916 by congressional resolution, signed by the 31^stpresident. The words in blue are from the often ignored third stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The words in white are from Key’s final address to the jury, as he prosecuted a man for possession of anti-slavery publications. 

 

O! say can you see 

Are you willing, gentlemen, 

by the dawn’s early light,

to abandon your country,

What so proudly we hailed 

to permit it to be taken from you, 

at the twilight’s last gleaming

and occupied by the abolitionist, 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

according to whose taste it is 

through the perilous fight,

to associate and amalgamate with the negro? 

O’er the ramparts we watch’d

Or, gentlemen, on the other hand, 

were so gallantly streaming?

are there laws in this community 

And the Rockets’ red glare

to defend you from the immediate abolitionist, 

The Bombs bursting in air,

who would open upon you the floodgates 

Gave proof through the night

of such extensive wickedness and mischief?

that our Flag was still there;

 

O! say does that star-spangled Banner yet wave,

No refuge could save the hireling and slave,

O’re the Land of the free, and the home of the brave?

from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave

18 Sep 2020

Key's address to the jury can be found in this article:

Francis Scott Key, Wikipedia

This article from The Intercept does a nice job of, among other things, looking into Key's intended meaning in his usage of "hireling and slave":

More Proof the U.S. National Anthem Has Always Been Tainted with Racism