roothog66 posted:As an aside, I'd encourage everyone here to actually research the history of Francis Scott key and the Star Spangled Banner. What you will find is an anthem written by a man who supported slavery to the point that he was a very prominent prosecutor of abolitionists. When he wrote "the land of the free" he certainly never anticipated - nor wished - that African-Americans would be allowed to take part in that freedom.
Societal norms change with time. At the time it was very normal and common to own slaves, in fact 18 presidents owned slaves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...tes_who_owned_slaves
In 1870 African American MEN were granted the right to vote. It took until 1920 for us silly little women to get that privilege.
Again, times and customs change, let's role with that instead of dwelling on what may or may not have been going through a mans head 200 years ago.