Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. He was born into massive slave holding wealth. He became a lawyer and one of the richest men in America. He spent a lifetime defending slavery.
The unedited version of the “Star Spangled Banner” reflects his beliefs, in slavery, strongly in it’s verbiage.
This is the (Edited) Star Spangled Banner that most people know.
Oh say, can you see
By the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight’s last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
Or the ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets’ red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there
Oh say does that
Star spangled banner yet wave
O the land of the free
And the home of the brave.
This is the actual Star Spangled Banner that most people don’t know.
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 bombs 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?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner – O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
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,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Reality Decoded 
The old one is longer – but I find it more interesting.
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Noting that the “old one” is in fact the Star Spangled Banner”
They just didn’t like the killing of slaves section and the talk about God so they shortened it.
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Not surprised.
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Wow.
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Reminds me of how Australia’s national anthem “Advance Australia Fair” has evolved.
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Did they ignore parts of it due to offensive material also?
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Yeah. They made changes to it to make it more gender neutral and to increase the anthem’s “inclusiveness”. It used to be four verses long but now has been cut down to 2. In the original there was the line “Australia’s sons let us rejoice” but has now been changed to “Australians all let us rejoice”. And 1 lyric has been specifically criticized as being offensive to indigenous Aussies (I don’t see how – it’s the line “for we are young and free”).
Some people claim its boring and that the song should be replaced with another, but I don’t agree with that. That song was written in at some point in the 1800s’ as our national anthem, and I don’t think it should be replaced and definitely should not have been changed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Australia_Fair
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Interesting! Thanks!
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I don’t know about “offensive” (at least, I don’t find it offensive; but then again, I’m a right-winger). The original lyrics (1879) were:
Australia’s sons let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in Nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In hist’ry’s page, let ev’ry stage
Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.
When gallant Cook from Albion sailed,
To trace wide oceans o’er,
True British courage bore him on,
Til he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England’s flag,
The standard of the brave;
“With all her faults we love her still”
“Britannia rules the wave.”
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
While other nations of the globe
Behold us from afar,
We’ll rise to high renown and shine
Like our glorious southern star;
From England soil and Fatherland,
Scotia and Erin fair,
Let all combine with heart and hand
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
Should foreign foe e’er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We’ll rouse to arms like sires of yore,
To guard our native strand;
Britannia then shall surely know,
Though oceans roll between,
Her sons in fair Australia’s land
Still keep their courage green.
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
Then in 1901, following Australia’s independence (and hence the need for a song not proclaiming as much our loyalty to Britain and Empire), it became:
Australia’s sons let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in Nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In hist’ry’s page, let ev’ry stage
Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.
When gallant Cook from Albion sailed,
To trace wide oceans o’er,
True British courage bore him on,
Til he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England’s flag,
The standard of the brave;
“With all her faults we love her still”
“Britannia rules the wave.”
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make our youthful Commonwealth,
Renowned of all the lands;
For loyal sons beyond the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair!
Should foreign foe e’er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We’ll rouse to arms like sires of yore,
To guard our native strand;
Britannia then shall surely know,
Though oceans roll between,
Her sons in fair Australia’s land
Still keep their courage green.
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
In 1984, it was proclaimed as our national anthem as:
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Which remains our current anthem (despite leftie attempts to change it to something more “inclusive” of Aborigines).
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Very interesting, thanks!
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You’re welcome.
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