美國國歌作詞人Francis Scott Key一生都充滿矛盾：
- A devout Episcopalian, he intended to become a priest, but then became a lawyer to support his family.
- As a nationally recognized attorney, he appeared several times before the Supreme Court, arguing successfully in 1808 that the African men aboard the seized slave ship Antelope were free and should be returned to Africa. Twenty-five years later as District Attorney, he unsuccessfully prosecuted abolitionist Ruben Crandall for distributing anti-slavery tracts that led to a murder attempt.
- He represented enslaved Black people pro bono in suits seeking their freedom, and also worked for slave owners defending against such suits. He owned slaves himself, freeing some while purchasing others.
- He wrote a poem that became the national anthem, yet while the lyrics speak evocatively of the nation’s struggle for freedom, the third verse ambiguously mentions slaves, leading to conflicting theories about what he meant.
- Convinced that white Americans were too racist to ever accept Black Americans as equals and led by his faith, he was one of the founders of the American Colonization Society which sought to end slavery by “returning” Black Americans to Africa.
- He was among a group that founded a free public school for poor white children in Washington, D.C. and insisted that it provide classes for Black children in the evenings.
- Regarded at the end of his life as a fervent anti-abolitionist, six months before his death he was one of few white men who attended the funeral of a leader of Washington’s free Black community, leading an abolitionist newspaper to describe him as “a friend of men of color.”
The Legacy of Francis Scott Key, Class of 1796: Panel Discussion - St. John's College |
