In God is Our Trust
 

Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about his experience watching our flag as it was seen throughout the night waving over Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor as it was attacked by the British. It later would become our national anthem.

The last stanza states the view of the people over what power has made our nation and what power preserves our nation. As our founders believed, In God is our trust.

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us 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
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

During the War of 1812, just days before the words of our National Anthem were written, British troops entered Washington D.C. and burned many of the government buidlings, including the White House and the Capitol. The whole town was at risk of being burned if the fires spread uncontrollably. Less than a day after the attack began, a sudden heavy thunderstorm put out most of the fires. It also spun off a tornado that passed through the center of the capital, killing British troops. More British were killed by the storm than by the American troops. The storm forced the British troops to return to their ships, many of which were badly damaged. The storm caused the British occupation of Washington D.C. to last only about 26 hours.

As they were leaving a British Major General asked a lady if they were accustomed to such horrible storms. She replied no, it was God protecting this nation from the British.