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Catherine Nelson

Professor Raymond

10 March 2017

UWRT 1104

Writing Prompt 6

Researching four generations back for the genealogy project has taught me a lot about the

family members that I have, the traditions my family holds and also the history behind who the

Nelson family really is. During my research and interviews with family members I found a lot of

history but there was not much talk about our country of origin. I believe my family has been

living in the United States for a very long time. Being of African descent it is implied that a

couple of hundreds of years ago my ancestors were brought to America during the slave trade.

With my ancestors being slaves there was not a lot of documentation of who they are or where

they come from, leaving cliffhangers in my family tree. For writing prompt six I have decided to

talk about the history of the United States and tying in some history of Virginia because that is

where originally my family is from, on my mother and father sides.

Currently the flag of the United States has thirteen alternating red and white stripes and

fifty stars. The stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the

Kingdom of Britain therefore becoming the first states in the US. Meanwhile, the fifty stars

located on the flag represent the fifty states in America. Throughout the years the flag of the

United States has gone through several design changes for the reasons mostly being the addition

of new states. The thirteen stripes have remained fairly constant on the design of the flag. The

first flag to represent the United States consisted solely of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes to

represent the colonies of that time period. The flag of Virginia consists of a deep blue
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background and has a white circle in the middle that features the seal of Virginia. The seal has a

virtue standing over a defeated tyrant. Virginia is represented by the virtue and the tyrant

symbolizes Britain. Furthermore, the flag has a motto that translate from Latin to thus always to

tyrants. The flag of Virginia was adopted in 1861 and the seal was placed onto the flag at the

start of the Civil War in America in 1861.

The National Anthem of the United States is the Star Spangled-Banner. The Star

Spangled-Banner was written by Francis Scott Key after the battle of Fort McHenry when he

noticed that the flag was standing throughout the night of the fight. The battle of Fort McHenry

is also known as the Battle of Baltimore for it took place in Baltimore, Maryland. The battle

lasted for three days from September 12, 1814 to September 15, 1814; resulting in an American

victory because the British withdrew from the fight. The official state song for the state of

Virginia is Carry Me Back to Old Virginny written by James A. Bland. The song was mandated

the official song of the state in 1940. Since this time period, there has been many complaints

from the residents of Virginia because the song contains racial remarks. In 1997 the song was

designated as the state song emeritus with the definition of emeritus being an honorable

discharge from a position.

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Works Cited

Lineberry, Cate. "The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner." Smithsonian.com.

Smithsonian Institution, 01 Mar. 2007. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

"North America." World Atlas - Maps, Geography, Travel. N.p., 14 July 2016. Web. 11

Mar. 2017.
Streufert, Duane. "A Website Dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America - The

25-Star Flag." USFlag.org: A Website Dedicated to the Flag of the United States of

America - The 25-Star Flag. N.p., 10 Feb. 2005. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.