06-07-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
On July 4, it's time to ask where is America heading?
Witnessing the attack was a prominent American lawyer and poet named Frances Scott Key. Key was there on a special mission with Colonel John Skinner to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beane who had been captured by the British. Key had achieved that goal, but was held by the British with Beane on a ship while the bombardment was going on.
Read More:
It seemed that the fort would fall to the aggressive attack, but when the dawn emerged, Key observed something extraordinary in the rising light. The 15-star American flag made by Mary Pickersgill was still flying. Before eloquent words flowed to paper, Key's soul was stirred by the courage and resilience of those who defended the fort. He then penned words that quickly etched themselves into the consciousness of a young America. Eventually the poem Key wrote was adopted as America's national anthem.
America remains a beacon of opportunity. It is still rich with countless people across regions who care and uplift. Yet, these are difficult and pressing times in America – the tone of negativity, disunity, and anxiousness is real.
Of course, no chapter in a nation's history will be devoid of trials and struggles. America is no different. The meaning of Key's opening lines of the national anthem is relevant to the current moment. Those words are, '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?'
If we imagine this 4th of July in America as a twilight before the dawn of the 250th Anniversary in 2026, Americans and the world will survey the ramparts and close their eyes with some doubt in the days ahead. Those who rap themselves in the stars and stripes then indignantly promote division for gain and expediency imperil the wellbeing of America with their words and actions.
The attribute that allowed the American flag to valiantly flow through the night at Ft. McHenry in 1814 was less the Baltimore harbor breeze and more the power of collective human resilience in the midst of challenge. To be sanguine about America is not foolish, to have faith in its future is not weak, to be optimistic is not naive.
Yet, to remain hopeful, America must actively work to uphold and defend tenets of community, common human decency, diversity, democracy, and unity. Americans and the world should call to account those who fail to measure up to those standards and ideals. Not to do so would be to sing Key's poetic words or the songs of others like Burns with a spiritually hollow voice, and to turn from those who fought so gallantly to keep civility alive, sacrificed to keep the ensign of sensibility streaming wherever they stood.
Ian Houston is a regular writer for the Herald. He has spent his career as an advocate for diplomacy, trade, poverty alleviation, and intercultural dialogue. He promotes commercial, educational, artistic, and charitable linkages between Scotland, UK, and the US. He is an Honorary Professor and Lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland and University of Aberdeen. He is located in the Washington, DC area. His views are his own.
