THE PUBLIC MIND: READER ADDRESSES FACTS FROM A PREVIOUS LETTER CONCERNING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

To the Editor:

After nearly three weeks of silence, I must finally take to task the staff of the Missourian for its poor proofreading; the professors and/or students of Southeast Missouri State; or anyone knowledgeable enough to know the true facts for not speaking out.

I refer to the letter of Feb. 24 to the Public Mind by a Mr. Ringpfiel giving his opinion to the controversy over standing for the black national anthem. I do not mean to criticize his opinion, only to point out that his historical facts were totally in error.

He stated that the Star Spangled Banner was not made our National Anthem until 1861 and further tried to support that premise by mentioning Fort Sumter as the focus of the attack.

The Star Spangled Banner was composed by Francis Scott Key on Sept. 14, 1814, during the War of 1812 while he was confined aboard an English ship two miles offshore out of the range of the coastal batteries of Fort McHenry in Chesapeake Bay. (There is actually some doubt as to whether he was actually able to see the bombardment.)

The main object of the attack was to sack and burn Baltimore, as had been done to the capital in Washington, D.C., earlier in the war. However,the British troops were repulsed northeast of Baltimore and retired back to their ships awaiting them in Chesapeake Bay. The entire fleet then sailed to Jamaic~a where they refitted, rearmed and subsequently sailed to New Orleans where they were soundly beaten by the American Army under the leadership of Andrew Jackson.

The original flag is now in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It is an oversized flag, measuring 42 by 30 feet. This flag had been made prior to the bombardment at the request of the commander of Fort McHenry, one Major George Armistead, who wanted to be sure that the flag would be able to be seen from a distance by the British. It contained 15 stars and 15 stripes, the original plan being to have a star and a stripe for each state, of which there were 15 at the time. That plan was later amended and the future flags reverted to 13 stripes for the original 13 colonies and one star for each state of the union.

The original title of the poem composed by Key was "Defense of Fort McHenry" and was later sung to the tune of "~Anacreon in Heaven."

It was not officially designated as our National Anthem until 1931.

One other fact of note: Jackson, Mo., was the first city in the United States to be named in honor of Andrew Jackson.

Bob Frenzel

Jackso~n