I’m not sure that’s the meaning of the verse.
My son did a term project on the SSB and we both read lots of books about the War of 1812. There really is no other reasonable interpretation, given what Key and other patriots experienced during the war, gjven the British attacks and burnings along the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and the coast, and the strategy of trying to raise a slave insurrection to participate.
The British had before Baltimore burned their way up the Patuxent, overland through the plantations of MD, and all the way to the White House,
In fact, they could have called it victory after burning DC, and sailed south out of the Chesapeake, but unfavorable weather and tides had the fleet bottled up in the Bay for an expected week or more, so the argument among thd British command prevailed to continue north and burn Baltimore
Had the British won the Battle of Baltimore, they would then have headed down the US coast of Virginia and the Carolinas to continue shelling and burning.
Given the American feeling of triumph after Baltimore, there was a determination that no refuge could save, from American rout, the hirelings and slaves recruited as a 3d arm by the British army, from the darkness of night or the gloom of the grave.
And thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes, and the war’s desolation
Blessed with victory and peace, may this heaven- rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made, and restored her a nation
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: In God Is Our Trust
And the Star Spangled Banner, in triumph shall wave
Oer the land of the free, and the home of the brave
Really, if the term “ slave” is so triggering, then drop that verse
My son did a term project on the SSB and we both read lots of books about the War of 1812. There really is no other reasonable interpretation, given what Key and other patriots experienced during the war, gjven the British attacks and burnings along the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and the coast, and the strategy of trying to raise a slave insurrection to participate.
The British had before Baltimore burned their way up the Patuxent, overland through the plantations of MD, and all the way to the White House,
In fact, they could have called it victory after burning DC, and sailed south out of the Chesapeake, but unfavorable weather and tides had the fleet bottled up in the Bay for an expected week or more, so the argument among thd British command prevailed to continue north and burn Baltimore
Had the British won the Battle of Baltimore, they would then have headed down the US coast of Virginia and the Carolinas to continue shelling and burning.
Given the American feeling of triumph after Baltimore, there was a determination that no refuge could save, from American rout, the hirelings and slaves recruited as a 3d arm by the British army, from the darkness of night or the gloom of the grave.
And thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes, and the war’s desolation
Blessed with victory and peace, may this heaven- rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made, and restored her a nation
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: In God Is Our Trust
And the Star Spangled Banner, in triumph shall wave
Oer the land of the free, and the home of the brave
Really, if the term “ slave” is so triggering, then drop that verse