Tuesday; July 3
Last week I took my first opportunity to visit Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Fort McHenry played an important role if the War of 1812, but it is probably best known for being the focus of Francis Scott Key’s song “The Star Spangled Banner”, which became our National Anthem. While the events of 1814 might be the highlight of the fort’s history, it played several roles in the decades (and wars) to come. As I walked around the fort I appreciated the way it was interpreted. In a time when it is easy to pick sides that promote social perspectives, the guardians of the fort captured the uneasiness surrounding the fort’s occupants throughout the years, especially during the Civil War. Less than a half century following a glowing defense of the Americans from the British it became a part of a war that pitted “brothers against brothers”. Less than a hundred miles from our nation’s capital – and in a state that was a hotbed of opinions in the 1860s – the fort stands as a symbol of