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Why must we question whether "The Star Spangled Banner" should be our national anthem? There is a reason it was written and plenty of reasons why it has suited us through the years.

On June 18, 1812, America went to war with Great Britain in what would become known as the "War of 1812." Fed up with still being treated like a child by the mother country, Americans had declared war on an already war-weary Britain. By 1814, the British finished their war with France and sent more troops to the colonies. It was during this time Francis Scott Key boarded a British ship with John S. Skinner to plea for the release of an American prisoner. Unable to return to land, Key was forced to watch the bombardment of Fort McHenry from sea.

These turbulent events, spawned by a society determined to have full independence, inspired Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner." While standing on the deck of a ship, Key was able to see through "the bombs bursting in air" and "the rocket's red glare" the American flag still standing over Fort McHenry. As an American citizen, Key would have felt pride in the fact that the fort had not surrendered. This same pride is what every American felt after September 11, 2001. After the destruction, on every rooftop and flagpole, "that star-spangled banner" flew with as much pride as it did on the day Key watched it fly over Fort McHenry.

While today, many Americans agree "our cause it is just" is not true with the war in Iraq, not one of those Americans would deny "the star-spangled banner" or not feel pride as it "in triumph doth wave." Although Key lived almost 200 years ago, he caught a national pride in one song that can be passed down through the generations and still arouse as much emotion as it did in 1814. Although we are losing the "In God is our trust" as a national "motto," we will never lose the pride Francis Scott Key found on board a British ship. The hearts and the souls of our society are bound to "the star-spangled banner" that flies "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!" "Oh long may it wave!"

Learn more about this author, Moira Bryant.
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