|
|
|
The United States flag term paper |
|
The United States flag is far more than the red, white, and blue cloth of which it is made. As a living symbol of America it stands for the past, present and future of this country. It symbolizes American people, American land and American way of life. The flag represents the men and women who built America. It reminds us of the native Americans who inhabited the continent for thousands of years, of Pilgrims finding a place to worship their God, of pioneers building homes in a new land, of Washington leading a young nation, of Lincoln holding that nation together, of Martin Luther King Junior's dream of justice and equality for all, and of the men and women of all races and beliefs who fought and died for this country. The flag of the United States of America has 13 stripes — 7 red and 6 white — and 50 white stars on a blue field. The stripes remind us of the 13 original colonies gained and united by Americans. The stars represent the 50 American states. The flag of today evolved out of many earlier flags raised in days gone by. For several centuries after European explorers first sailed to North America, the flags of Spain, Holland, France, England and Sweden flew, over different parts of the continent. An English flag known as the Red Ensign waved over American colonies from 1707 until the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It was the merchant flag of England, when the revolution started in 1775, the colonies wanted a flag of their own. That new flag, the Grand Union, was raised over George Washington's headquarters outside Boston on January 1, 1776. On June 14 of the following year, the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia chose a design for the first official flag of the United States of America. Today Americans celebrate June 14 as Flag Day. When two more states joined the Union in 1795, the American flag gained 2 stars and 2 stripes, bringing to 15 the total of each. That Star-Spangled Banner flew above Fort McHenry during the British bombardment in 1824, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write American national anthem.As more states joined the United States, Americans realized the flag would become an awkward shape of additional stripes sewn to it. The Congress restored the design to the original 13 stripes, and decided that a star would be added to the blue field for each new state. The 50-th star — for Hawaii — was added on July 4, 1960.
|
|
