The Importance of Fort McHenry to America Essay -- essays research pap

As a country, the United States felt that the War of 1812 was under control and that they were sanitary prep ared for any battle any army could throw at them. After the United States won an important battle on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the message We brook met the enemy and they are ours. As a new country, America, having just defeated the spectacularest force strength on the earth, was perhaps overconfident. However, once Great Britain turned any of its attention to defeating the United States, America realized that the fate of her country relied on Baltimore, and Baltimore relied on the shelter of Fort McHenry. If Fort McHenry was taken over by the British, the Nation would have been split into two. The fate of the United States rested, to a bear-sized extent, on the success or failure of the central prong attack which was existence cherished by Fort McHenry. If Baltimore had not had Fort McHenry for protection, the city wou ld have been an easy target and our nation would have perished because Baltimore would have lacked the proper protection it needed to prevail. Before 1793, there was a base on the peninsula called Whetstone Point, which was of strategic value to the United States because of its location. Whetstone Point was surrounded by water on three sides and in order to get to Baltimore by water, you had to pass by this peninsula. Because of these reasons, this point seemed like an obvious place to stick a arm to protect Baltimore. Not only was this a good location because of the water, only when it was close enough to Baltimore to protect it without putting it in danger. Therefore, in 1793, a man named John Jacob Ulrich Rivardi was directed by the Secretary of War to create a plan fo... ...endered or America had won. They could vaguely see a flag flying above the fort but could not itemize whether it was America or British. Finally the darkness lifted and they saw that the American flag was still up and waving in the wind. After this night, severalise wrote a poem telling the events of that night. He called it The Defense of Fort MHenry. It was published in the newspapers all over America. Someone put the poem to music using an old English tune called To Anacreon in Heaven. This song became Americas first national anthem in 1931. Fort McHenry is not just known for the night when Francis Scott recognize put that night into poem, but it is known as a great fort with a very strong military advantage. Fort McHenry helped protect Baltimore and save America. Without Fort McHenry, America could have easily been conquered and destroyed.