THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.
Was written by Francis S. Key, while on board one of the vessels composing the British fleet. He was an agent for the exchange of prisoners, and witnessed in the distance the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The tune was originally set to the song “To Anacreon in Heaven,” by Dr. Arnold.
THE PRESENT AMERICAN FLAG.
The first flag adopted by the colonial army before Boston was a red flag, with the mottoes, “An appeal to Heaven,” and “Qui transtulit sustinet,” which was construed by the colonists thus:—“God, who transplanted us hither, will sustain us.” About this time also the floating batteries, which were the germ of the navy subsequently organized, bore a flag with the motto, “Appeal to Heaven.” These flags were adopted before the union of the colonies was effected. After that union, and upon the organization of the army and fleet, these flags were supplanted by one calculated to show to the world the union of the North American colonies among themselves and as an integral part of the British empire, and as such demanding the rights and liberties of British subjects. And for this purpose a flag combining the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew united (the distinctive emblem of Great Britain), with a field composed of thirteen stripes alternate red and white, the combination of the flags previously used in the camps and on the cruises, and the floating batteries of the colonists, was adopted, and called the Great Union flag. The union implied both the union of the colonies represented in the striped field, which was dependent upon it, and the nationality of those colonies. The thirteen stripes alternate red and white, constituting the field of the flag, represented the body of that union, the numbers that composed it, as well as the union of the flags which had preceded this Great Union flag. The colors of these stripes, alternate red and white, indicated on the part of the colonies thus represented as united the defiance to oppression, symbolized by the red color of the flag of the army and the red field of the Continental cruisers, with the purity implied by the white flag of the floating batteries, of which the motto was, “Appeal to Heaven.”[36] These flags of the colonies and this Great Union flag gave place in turn to the flag of the United States, which is thus described in the following resolution of Congress, passed June 14, 1777:—
“Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
From the above it appears that the only alteration made from the Great Union flag was the substitution of a union of stars representing “a new constellation,” in place of the old union of the British crosses; and the question is, what is the meaning of the “new constellation,” and is there any constellation which represents union? The answer is, that the constellation Lyra is of this character; for, according to classical authority, the Lyra was the symbol of harmony and unity among men. The constellation Lyra is a time-honored emblem of union, and because it was so it gave to our forefathers the idea of the stars now on our flag, while the stripes have originated as we have mentioned. May the Stars and the Stripes ever “wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave,” and may the United States ever be among the nations of the earth a constellation like Lyra, which is said to “whirl in harmony and unity along the immense orb of the revolving world, and to lead all the other stars.”
CONGRESS.
Previous to the Revolution, and during the war, the seat of government, or points of meeting of Congress, were at such places as convenience suggested or the vicissitudes of war allowed. The first Congress under the present Constitution met in New York, on the 4th of March, 1789. George Washington was inaugurated President before this body, John Adams Vice-President. F.A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, was the Speaker of the House.
The following are the places at which the Continental Congress met from 1774 to the adoption of the Constitution, in 1789:—
At Philadelphia, 1774, September 5.
At Baltimore, 1776, December 20.
At Philadelphia, 1777, March 4.
At Lancaster, 1777, September 27.
At York, Pennsylvania, 1777, September 30.
At Philadelphia, 1778, July 2.
At Princeton, 1783, June 30.
At Annapolis, 1783, November 26.
At Trenton, 1784, November 1.
At New York, 1785, January 11.