Download or read book What So Proudly We Hailed written by Marc Leepson and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-06-24 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What So Proudly We Hailed is the first full-length biography of Francis Scott Key in more than 75 years. In this fascinating look at early America, historian Marc Leepson explores the life and legacy of Francis Scott Key. Standing alongside Betsy Ross, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, and John Hancock in history, Key made his mark as an American icon by one single and unforgettable act, writing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Among other things, Leepson reveals: • How the young Washington lawyer found himself in Baltimore Harbor on the night of September 13-14, 2014 • The mysterious circumstances surrounding how the poem he wrote, first titled "The Defense of Ft. M'Henry," morphed into the National Anthem • Key's role in forming the American Colonization Society, and his decades-long fervent support for that controversial endeavor that sent free blacks to Africa • His adamant opposition to slave trafficking and his willingness to represent slaves and freed men and women for free in Washington's courts • Key's role as a confidant of President Andrew Jackson and his work in Jackson's "kitchen cabinet" • Key's controversial actions as U.S. Attorney during the first race riot in Washington, D.C., in 1835. Publishing to coincide with the 200th anniversary of "The Star Spangled Banner" in 2014, What So Proudly We Hailed reveals unexplored details of the life of an American patriot whose legacy has been largely unknown until now.
Download or read book What So Proudly We Hail written by Amy A. Kass and published by ISI Books. This book was released on 2011-05-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This wonderfully rich anthology uses the soul-shaping power of story, speech, and song to help Americans realize more deeply—and appreciate more fully—who they are as citizens of the United States. At once inspiring and thought-provoking, What So Proudly We Hail features dozens of selections on American identity, character, and civic life by our countryÆs greatest writers and leaders—from Mark Twain to John Updike, from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, from Willa Cather to Flannery OÆConnor, from Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from Francis Scott Key to Irving Berlin. Developing robust American citizens involves educating the heart as well as the mind. It is not enough to understand our nationÆs lofty principles or know our history; thoughtful and engaged citizens require cultivated moral imaginations and fitting sentiments and attitudes—matters both displayed in and nurtured by our great works of imaginative literature and rhetoric. Featuring the editorsÆ insightful and instructive commentary, What So Proudly We Hail illuminates our national identity, the American creed, the American character, and the virtues and aspirations of active citizenship. This marvelous book will not only be a fixture on bedside tables; it will also spark conversations in homes, schools, colleges, and reading groups everywhere.
Download or read book What So Proudly We Hailed written by Pietro S. Nivola and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With distrust between the political parties running deep and Congress divided, the government of the United States goes to war. The war is waged without adequately preparing the means to finance it or readying suitable contingency plans to contend with its unanticipated complications. The executive branch suffers from managerial confusion and in-fighting. The military invades a foreign country, expecting to be greeted as liberators, but encounters stiff, unwelcome resistance. The conflict drags on longer than predicted. It ends rather inconclusively—or so it seems in its aftermath. Sound familiar? This all happened two hundred years ago. What So Proudly We Hailed looks at the War of 1812 in part through the lens of today's America. On the bicentennial of that formative yet largely forgotten period in U.S. history, this provocative book asks: What did Americans learn—and not learn—from the experience? What instructive parallels and distinctions can be drawn with more recent events? How did it shape the nation? Exploring issues ranging from party politics to sectional schisms, distant naval battles to the burning of Washington, and citizens' civil liberties to the fate of Native Americans caught in the struggle, these essays speak to the complexity and unpredictability of a war that many assumed would be brief and straightforward. What emerges is a revealing perspective on a problematic "war of choice"—the nation's first, but one with intriguing implications for others, including at least one in the present century. Although the War of 1812 may have faded from modern memory, the conflict left important legacies, both in its immediate wake and in later years. In its own time, the war was transformative. To this day, however, some of the fundamental challenges that confronted U.S. policymakers two centuries ago still resonate. How much should a free society regularly invest in national defense? Should the expense be defrayed throu
Download or read book O Say Can You See written by Francis Scott Key and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of 8 patriotic photos -- most of them include pre-school age children and the flag -- accompany the text of the Star Spangle Banner.
Download or read book What So Proudly We Hailed written by Emile Gauvreau and published by . This book was released on 1935 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Star Spangled Banner written by Francis Scott Key and published by . This book was released on 1907 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book O Say Can You Hear A Cultural Biography of The Star Spangled Banner written by Mark Clague and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-06-14 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Editors' Choice The fascinating story of America’s national anthem and an examination of its powerful meaning today. Most Americans learn the tale in elementary school: During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key witnessed the daylong bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry by British navy ships; seeing the Stars and Stripes still flying proudly at first light, he was inspired to pen his famous lyric. What Americans don’t know is the story of how this everyday “broadside ballad,” one of thousands of such topical songs that captured the events and emotions of early American life, rose to become the nation’s one and only anthem and today’s magnet for controversy. In O Say Can You Hear? Mark Clague brilliantly weaves together the stories of the song and the nation it represents. Examining the origins of both text and music, alternate lyrics and translations, and the song’s use in sports, at times of war, and for political protest, he argues that the anthem’s meaning reflects—and is reflected by—the nation’s quest to become a more perfect union. From victory song to hymn of sacrifice and vehicle for protest, the story of Key’s song is the story of America itself. Each chapter in the book explores a different facet of the anthem’s story. In one, we learn the real history behind the singing of the anthem at sporting events; in another, Clague explores Key’s complicated relationship with slavery and its repercussions today. An entire is chapter devoted to some of the most famous performances of the anthem, from Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock to Roseanne Barr at a baseball game to the iconic Whitney Houston version from the 1991 Super Bowl. At every turn, the book goes beyond the events to explore the song’s resonance and meaning. From its first lines Key’s lyric poses questions: “O say can you see?” “Does that banner yet wave?” Likewise, Clague’s O Say Can You Hear? raises important questions about the banner; what it meant in 1814, what it means to us today, and why it matters.
Download or read book Through the Perilous Fight written by Steve Vogel and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a rousing account of one of the critical turning points in American history, Through the Perilous Fight tells the gripping story of the burning of Washington and the improbable last stand at Baltimore that helped save the nation and inspired its National Anthem. In the summer of 1814, the United States of America teetered on the brink of disaster. The war it had declared against Great Britain two years earlier appeared headed toward inglorious American defeat. The young nation’s most implacable nemesis, the ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn, launched an invasion of Washington in a daring attempt to decapitate the government and crush the American spirit. The British succeeded spectacularly, burning down most of the city’s landmarks—including the White House and the Capitol—and driving President James Madison from the area. As looters ransacked federal buildings and panic gripped the citizens of Washington, beleaguered American forces were forced to regroup for a last-ditch defense of Baltimore. The outcome of that “perilous fight” would help change the outcome of the war—and with it, the fate of the fledgling American republic. In a fast-paced, character-driven narrative, Steve Vogel tells the story of this titanic struggle from the perspective of both sides. Like an epic novel, Through the Perilous Fight abounds with heroes, villains, and astounding feats of derring-do. The vindictive Cockburn emerges from these pages as a pioneer in the art of total warfare, ordering his men to “knock down, burn, and destroy” everything in their path. While President Madison dithers on how to protect the capital, Secretary of State James Monroe personally organizes the American defenses, with disastrous results. Meanwhile, a prominent Washington lawyer named Francis Scott Key embarks on a mission of mercy to negotiate the release of an American prisoner. His journey will place him with the British fleet during the climactic Battle for Baltimore, and culminate in the creation of one of the most enduring compositions in the annals of patriotic song: “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, the burning of Washington was a devastating national tragedy that ultimately united America and renewed its sense of purpose. Through the Perilous Fight combines bravura storytelling with brilliantly rendered character sketches to recreate the thrilling six-week period when Americans rallied from the ashes to overcome their oldest adversary—and win themselves a new birth of freedom. Praise for Through the Perilous Fight “Very fine storytelling, impeccably researched . . . brings to life the fraught events of 1814 with compelling and convincing vigor.”—Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Army at Dawn “Probably the best piece of military history that I have read or reviewed in the past five years. . . . This well-researched and superbly written history has all the trappings of a good novel. . . . No one who hears the national anthem at a ballgame will ever think of it the same way after reading this book.”—Gary Anderson, The Washington Times “[Steve] Vogel does a superb job. . . . [A] fast-paced narrative with lively vignettes.”—Joyce Appleby, The Washington Post “Before 9/11 was 1814, the year the enemy burned the nation’s capital. . . . A splendid account of the uncertainty, the peril, and the valor of those days.”—Richard Brookhiser, author of James Madison “A swift, vibrant account of the accidents, intricacies and insanities of war.”—Kirkus Reviews
Download or read book What So Proudly We Hail written by Amy A. Kass and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-03-28 with total page 818 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A stupendous compilation of the best things said by and to Americans . . . [I] open it every night at random and always find something valuable." —Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal "Indispensable . . . Should become The Book of Virtues for patriots." —Mona Charen, nationally syndicated columnist Concerned about rising cynicism and apathy, more and more Americans lament the decline in patriotic feeling and civic engagement. Fortunately, this wonderfully rich anthology is here to help all Americans realize more deeply—and appreciate more fully—who they are as citizens of the United States.At once inspiring and thought provoking, What So Proudly We Hail explores American identity, character, and civic life using the soul-shaping power of story, speech, and song. Editors Amy Kass, Leon Kass, and Diana Schaub—acclaimed scholars who among them have more than a century of teaching experience—have assembled dozens of selections by our country's greatest writers and leaders, from Mark Twain to John Updike, from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, from Willa Cather to Flannery O'Connor, from Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from Francis Scott Key to Irving Berlin.Featuring the editors' insightful and instructive commentary, What So Proudly We Hail illuminates our national identity, the American creed, the American character, and the virtues and aspirations of active citizenship. This marvelous book will spark much-needed discussion and reflection in living rooms, classrooms, and reading groups everywhere.
Download or read book God Bless America written by Sheryl Kaskowitz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-10 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "God Bless America" is a song most Americans know well. It is taught in American schools and regularly performed at sporting events. After the attacks on September 11th, it was sung on the steps of the Capitol, at spontaneous memorial sites, and during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games, becoming even more deeply embedded in America's collective consciousness. In God Bless America, Sheryl Kaskowitz tells the fascinating story behind America's other national anthem. It begins with the song's composition by Irving Berlin in 1918 and first performance by Kate Smith in 1938, revealing an early struggle for control between composer and performer as well as the hidden economics behind the song's royalties. Kaskowitz shows how the early popularity of "God Bless America" reflected the anxiety of the pre-war period and sparked a surprising anti-Semitic and xenophobic backlash. She follows the song's rightward ideological trajectory from early associations with religious and ethnic tolerance to increasing uses as an anthem for the Christian Right, and considers the song's popularity directly after the September 11th attacks. The book concludes with a portrait of the song's post-9/11 function within professional baseball, illuminating the power of the song - and of communal singing itself - as a vehicle for both commemoration and coercion. A companion website offers streaming audio of recordings referenced in the book, links to videos of relevant performances, appendices of information, and an opportunity for readers to participate in the author's survey. Based on extensive archival research and fieldwork, God Bless America sheds new light on cultural tensions within the U.S., past and present, and offers a historical chronicle that is full of surprises and that will both edify and delight readers from all walks of life.
Download or read book Can You Sing The Star Spangled Banner written by Martha E. H. Rustad and published by Millbrook Press ™. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's time for music class! Are you ready to sing the national anthem? Do you know the story behind this famous song? It tells about how the American flag survived a battle. Join Ms. Hill's class as they learn who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner," what the words mean, and why we sing it.
Download or read book My Name Is Old Glory written by Martha LaGuardia-Kotite and published by . This book was released on 2011-10-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspiring images and personal and historical stories about the American flag accompany the poem My Name is Old Glory in this gorgeous book. This poem, written by unsung U.S. Marine Howard Schnauber, is read at retirements and military ceremonies. My Name is Old Glory celebrates two-hundred years of the red, white, and blue.
Download or read book Red and Blue Nation written by Pietro S. Nivola and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Brookings Institution Press and the Hoover Institution publication America's polarized politics are largely disconnected from mainstream public preferences. This disconnect poses fundamental dangers for the representativeness and accountability of government, as well as the already withering public trust in it. As the 2008 presidential race kicks into gear, the political climate certainly will not become less polarized. With important issues to address—including immigration policy, health care, and the funding of the Iraq war—it is critical that essential policies not be hostage to partisan political battles. Building upon the findings of the first volume of Red and Blue Nation? (Brookings, 2006), which explored the extent of political polarization and its potential causes, this new volume delves into the consequences of the gulf between "red states" and "blue states." The authors examine the impact of these political divisions on voter behavior, Congressional law-making, judicial selection, and foreign policy formation. They shed light on hotly debated institutional reform proposals—including changes to the electoral system and the congressional rules of engagement—and ultimately present research-supported policies and reforms for alleviating the underlying causes of political polarization. While most discussion of polarization takes place in separate spheres of journalism and academia, Red and Blue Nation? brings together a unique set of voices with a wide variety of perspectives to enrich our understanding of the issue. Written in a broad, accessible style, it is a resource for anyone interested in the future of electoral politics in America. Contributors include Marc Hetherington and John G. Geer (Vanderbilt University), Deborah Jordan Brooks (Dartmouth College), Martin P. Wattenberg (University of California, Irvine), Barbara Sinclair and Joel D. Aberbach (UCLA), Christopher H. Foreman (University of Maryland), Keith Krehbiel (Stanford University), Sarah A. Binder, Benjamin Wittes, Jonathan Rauch, and William A. Ga
Download or read book Lafayette Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General written by Marc Leepson and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an account of the life and military career of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat who, enamored with the ideals of the American Revolution, traveled to the colonies to join the fight for democracy, and became lifelong friends with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Download or read book Rain on the Just written by Kathleen Morehouse and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1980 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nominating Rain on the Just for the 1936 Pulitzer Prize, Ray Erwin of the Charlotte Observer wrote, “This is the finest novel produced in North Carolina in this generation, and I don’t remember any of past generations that measures up to it.” But Mrs. Morehouse was an outsider (Massachusetts), and many of her neighbors, affronted by the novel of “Least Dolly Allen” and the folk around Hanging Dog Creek, suggested “hanging Massachusetts witches.” This novel preserves the language and the folkways of the mountain natives: Least Dolly Allen, Bilow Bumgarner, Click Winkler, Trealy Sexton, Rance Drake, Tedroe Jarvis, and others. These people provide the focus of this ballad-like story set in the foothills of the Carolina Blue Ridge. Of Mrs. Morehouse’s power as a novelist, Edwin Granberry of the New York Sun wrote: “The reader is made to feel chagrin at his lack of charity toward the sinner, embarrassment at his failure to foresee the wickedness of the good. This is character portrayal of a high order.”
Download or read book War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy 1861 1865 written by Henry Marvin Wharton and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Francis Scott Key written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes Key's quotes and contemporary accounts about the Star Spangled Banner *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Then, in that hour of deliverance, my heart spoke. Does not such a country, and such defenders of their country, deserve a song?" - 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?" These words elicit strong emotions in the hearts of Americans more than 200 years after they were written. The Star Spangled Banner is still sung at sporting events, political rallies, and even church services around the nation on a daily basis, and for decades, they were considered mandatory memory work for every kid in grade school. Today, some find the song disturbing for various reasons, ranging from its martial words to its high notes, and others believe that the national anthem should not be sung because of the character of the man who wrote them: Francis Scott Key. And what of this man, this brilliant lawyer who was born into slave-holding Maryland and himself held slaves even as he wrote of "the land of the free"? He was, to say the least, complex, as he at times fought in court both for and against slaves seeking their freedom. He was a founding member of an organization seeking to return captured slaves to their homelands, yet he also fought abolition tooth and claw. He seems to have been, like many men of his age, torn nearly to pieces by the these contradictions, even as he wrote in one of the song's later verses: "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." On the one hand he considered the law of the land the highest authority on earth, but he saw little difference between faith in God and faith in America, as he wrote in the song's rarely sung final verse: "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto - 'In God is our trust.'" He was a well-known and well-connected Washington, D.C. attorney who was always in debt, even as he lived and worked among the most powerful people in the nation. In fact, he died a poor man even though he owned the rights to one of the most popular songs in American history. Francis Scott Key's personal life was somewhat less confusing, if more tragic. He came from a closely knit family and was especially influenced by his mother and grandmother. He was happily married for more than 40 years to a woman who never quite lived up to his standards of piety. He was a devoted and devout father of 11 children who suffered the pangs of burying several before their time. As a result, there was always a conflict between his desire to rejoice in all he had and his often melancholic state of mind. Francis Scott Key: The Life and Legacy of the Man Who Wrote America's National Anthem examines one of 19th century America's most influential figures. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Francis Scott Key like never before.
