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September 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Star Spangled Banner

Often overlooked, twenty-nine years after the end of the American Revolution, conflict between the new United States and Britain flared up, again.

The War of 1812 broke out for a variety of reasons, including Britain’s seizure of American ships, forced taking of American sailors into the British navy and restriction of trade between the United States and France.

In June 1812, James Madison became the first US president to ask Congress to declare war (he sent a war message to the Congress on June 1, 1812 and signed the declaration of war on June 18, 1812.)  (The conflict ended with the Treaty of Ghent, in 1815.)

The tensions that caused the War of 1812 arose from the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815).

During this nearly constant conflict between France and Britain, American interests were injured by each of the two countries’ endeavors to block the United States from trading with the other.

In Hawaiʻi, the issue of interest was the export of sandalwood – the War of 1812 interfered with trade in the Pacific.

Exports were interrupted by the battling nations as warships were sent to protect their own commerce and destroy that of the enemy.  Hawaiʻi was blockaded during the war.

In addition, several Hawaiians served with the US in the war, including Humehume (Prince Kaumualiʻi, son of King Kaumualiʻi,) Thomas Hopu and William Kanui (all three were also on the Thaddeus with the first missionary company to Hawaiʻi, in 1820.)

A lasting legacy of the War of 1812 was the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the US national anthem.  They were penned by the amateur poet Francis Scott Key after he watched American forces withstand the British siege of Fort McHenry (named for James McHenry, Secretary of War, 1796 – 1800.)

Following the Burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria, Key set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was to secure the exchange of prisoners.

On September 13, 1814, nineteen British ships aimed their cannons and guns on the fort.  Amazingly, an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 British cannonballs failed to cause any significant damage to a fort which was unable to fire back on the ships because they were positioned just out of range of the American guns.

During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the shell and rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn.  By then, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.

Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort.  That morning, he penned the poem that eventually became our country’s National Anthem.

The flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History in the Smithsonian Institution.

The song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands played it during public events, such as July 4th celebrations.

On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order #374, making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.

I was fortunate to have attended a Coastal States Organization meeting in Baltimore, Maryland while I served as Director at DLNR.  I took the time to visit Fort McHenry to better see and understand what it looked like.

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Flag over Fort McHenry-1814-(WC)
Star Spangled Banner Flag that inspired the lyrics of the US national anthem when it flew above Fort McHenry in 1814-(WC)
Fort McHenry-(NPS)-1865
Fort McHenry-(MDHS)-1920s
War of 1812 – Star Spangled Banner Anthem
FortMcHenry_aerial
Fort_McHenry-aerial-point-(NPS)
Fort_McHenry-aerial-(NPS)
Fort_McHenry-(NPS)
Battle_of_Baltimore-1814

Filed Under: General, Military Tagged With: Fort McHenry, Hawaii, Humehume, Prince Kaumualii, Star Spangled Banner, Thomas Hopu, War of 1812, William Kanui

December 8, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Showing Respect

Sometimes, somethings are bigger than ourselves … no matter how important some people view themselves, no matter the extent of our respective individual freedoms.

36 US Code § 301 – National anthem – notes, “During a rendition of the national anthem … persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart …”

“… and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart …”

“… and when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.”

Let’s look back …

Britain’s defeat by the Continental Army of the American colonies at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown marked the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War. Less than decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which formalized Britain’s recognition of the United States of America, the two countries were again in conflict.

Resentment for Britain’s interference with American international trade, combined with American expansionist visions, led Congress to declare war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812. (Smithsonian)

In the summer of 1813, Mary Pickersgill, an experienced maker of ships’ colors and signal flags, was contracted to sew two flags for Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, a 30 x 42–foot garrison flag and a 17 x 25–foot storm flag for use in inclement weather.

Pickersgill and her thirteen-year-old daughter Caroline; nieces Eliza Young (thirteen) and Margaret Young (fifteen); and a thirteen-year-old African American indentured servant, Grace Wisher, spent about seven weeks making the two flags. (Smithsonian)

The flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History in the Smithsonian Institution.

On a rainy September 13, 1814, British warships sent a downpour of shells and rockets onto Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, relentlessly pounding the American fort for 25 hours.

The bombardment, known as the Battle of Baltimore, came only weeks after the British had attacked Washington, DC, burning the Capitol, the Treasury and the President’s house.

A week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer (and amateur poet,) had boarded the flagship of the British fleet on the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of persuading the British to release a friend who had recently been arrested.

Key’s tactics were successful, but because he and his companions had gained knowledge of the impending attack on Baltimore, the British did not let them go. They allowed the Americans to return to their own vessel but continued guarding them. Under their scrutiny, Key watched on September 13 as the barrage of Fort McHenry began eight miles away.

“It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone.” (Key) Key put his thoughts on paper while still on board the ship; he called his poem Defence of Fort M’Henry.

The poem was later put to the tune of (John Stafford Smith’s song) The Anacreontic Song, modified somewhat, and retitled The Star Spangled Banner.

The song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands played it during public events, such as July 4th celebrations.

On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F Tracy signed General Order #374, making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag. (Smithsonian)

Throughout the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national anthem by most branches of the US armed forces and other groups.

But it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In March 1931, Congress passed an act confirming Wilson’s presidential order, and on March 3, 1931 President Hoover signed it into law.

In Hawaiʻi, the issue of interest was the export of sandalwood – the War of 1812 interfered with trade in the Pacific. Exports were interrupted by the battling nations as warships were sent to protect their own commerce and destroy that of the enemy. Hawaiʻi was blockaded during the war.

In addition, several Hawaiians served with the US in the war, including Humehume (Prince Kaumualiʻi, son of King Kaumualiʻi,) Thomas Hopu and William Kanui (all three were also on the Thaddeus with the first missionary company to Hawaiʻi, in 1820.)

Showing Respect:

The Star-Spangled Banner

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?

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war-of-1812-star-spangled-banner-anthem
war-of-1812-star-spangled-banner-anthem

Filed Under: General, Military Tagged With: Hawaii, Respect, Star Spangled Banner

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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