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Why do we say "The land of the free and the home of the brave"?

Well-Known Expressions

The land of the free and the home of the brave

Background:

From the "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written by American lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy in Chesapeake Bay in 1812. It was first published in the Baltimore Patriot on September 20, 1814.

The poem, having been set to a tune that originated at the Anacreontic Society in London, was renamed "The Star Spangled Banner" and quickly became a popular American patriotic song. It was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and by the President in 1916, and was designated the National anthem of the USA in 1931 by congressional resolution.

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