National Anthem
The Nazis are all, “Hey let’s sing our Nazi song!” but the freedom-loving Frenchies hanging out at Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca are all, like, “Non. Non! NON!”
[Mas…]
For generations, Americans have revered The Star-Spangled Banner as their National Anthem, singing it at baseball games, karaoke nights and Fourth of July celebrations around the country.
It may come as a surprise, however, that the song’s author, Francis Scott Key, was actually a Mexican immigrant named Francisco Scott Quiñones and that the song was written to his friend and fellow immigrant Jose Canusi after witnessing the storied defense of Ft. McHenry on Sept. 16, 1814.
According to records in the National Archives, the original manuscript (image, below) begins with the words: “Jose, can you see by the dawn’s early light?”
Long a source of pride in the Mexican-American community, the subject of Francis Scott Key’s true identity is taboo in academia and historical re-enactment circles.
“The National Anthem’s Mexican roots are America’s best-kept secret,” says UCLA Musicologist T. Gray Del Norte. ”And it makes perfect sense if you consider that the Statue of Liberty is French and the U.S. Constitution is based on the Iroquois Confederacy.” [Mas…]
