"The Lines Between Justice and Injustice Are Crisscrossed"

"'The Star-Spangled Banner' nevertheless shares its conceptual DNA with the United States as a whole. It is a product of a time when the stain of slavery was clear on the nation and part of US law. To understand the anthem and its legacy, we need to know more than just Key's words. We need to understand their author's feelings and actions about slavery."

Mark Clague in a 2016 CNN article defends "The Star-Spangled Banner."

"American Slavery Could No Longer Be Hidden From the Rest of the World"

"This was a rhetorical device, however, used to set up the glaring contrast between what the founders did for themselves and the condition of black people at that time. In 1776, he noted, many people viewed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the others as dangerous subversives and insurgent upstarts despite British tyranny.
"However, with the hindsight of 1852, he said, it was no longer problematic to see 'that America was right, and England wrong.'
"Likewise, Douglass noted, in 1852, abolitionism was considered a dangerous and subversive political proposition. The implication here was that future generations would consider his anti-slavery stance patriotic, just, reasonable—and necessary."

Herbert Dyer, Jr., in Counterpunch discusses Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro."

Christopher Wilson in Smithsonian investigates "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the life of Francis Scott Key.

And Robert G. Parkinson in The New York Times looks at slavery, Native Americans, and the Declaration of Independence.

James Livingston reponds to Parkinson at Politics and Letters.

"The Last Time Britain Fought America"

"The British sustained 2,042 casualties; the Americans 71. To make things worse, the battle was unnecessary. The Treaty of Ghent, ending the 1812 War, was signed on Christmas Eve. News of the treaty didn't reach Washington until February 17."


Harry Mount at The Spectator marks the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans.

"New Study Finds 85% Of Americans Don't Know All The Dance Moves To National Anthem"

"'Surprisingly, we found very few people who knew that once the song gets to "O'er the ramparts we watched," you're supposed to face the person on your right, fold your arms, plant your right foot, and kick around in a clockwise three-quarter circle,' said O'Neill, gracefully demonstrating the move in a traditional red, white, and blue national-anthem cape. 'This sequence puts you in the right position for "And the rockets' red glare"!'
"'That's when you shimmy like there's no tomorrow,' he added.'"

From The Onion.

Thru the Perilous Fight

"Historians of the period and of the war may resent Hofstadter’s summary dismissal, but it offers some clues as to why neither is the subject of much popular interest. The very things that put Hofstadter off—the bumbling diplomacy, the bitter infighting, the ineptly executed war effort—force us to confront a vision of the United States that doesn’t generally fit our understanding of its origins. The war plays out as a disappointing second act to the Revolution, with the nation suddenly at the whim of Europeans and Indians and riven by internal dissent, and the heroes and heirs of 1776 acting without the pluck and ingenuity that we expect of them. How are we to commemorate that?"

In Slate, James M. Lundberg observes the War of 1812's bicentennial.

"It's a Much Bigger Deal Up Here"

"Britain doesn't seem to be planning much, probably because the War of 1812 was viewed as a distraction for a country focused on defeating Napoleon, historians said. Some Canadians worry that if they make too big a deal about repelling the American invaders, it could offend their southern neighbor.
"Then again, Americans may not notice."

Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times reports on upcoming commemorations for the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative?

"While it will celebrate historical icons such as Isaac Brock and Laura Secord, the government is preparing to play up the relative lack of conflict with the United States since. In more than one news release on remembering the war, the Tories also mention 'two centuries of peaceful co-existence with the United States' that followed.
"Canadian military historian Jack Granatstein predicts anti-American sentiment will nevertheless be stirred up–through no fault of the Harper government.
'I think this is going to turn into an anti-American festival, no matter what the government does.'

Steven Chase in The Globe and Mail reports on the Canadian government's upcoming efforts to mark the War of 1812's two-hundredth anniversary.