PRINTER'S NO.  3304

  

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

  

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

No.

644

Session of

2012

  

  

INTRODUCED BY CLYMER, AUMENT, BAKER, CALTAGIRONE, D. COSTA, CUTLER, DALEY, DiGIROLAMO, EVERETT, FARRY, FLECK, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE, GILLEN, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GROVE, HACKETT, HAHN, HARHART, HARKINS, HARPER, HARRIS, HENNESSEY, HESS, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, KILLION, KIRKLAND, KNOWLES, MAJOR, MANN, MARSICO, McGEEHAN, MILLARD, MILNE, MURT, MYERS, O'NEILL, PICKETT, QUIGLEY, READSHAW, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SABATINA, SACCONE, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SONNEY, STERN, STEVENSON, SWANGER, TALLMAN, TOOHIL, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 29, 2012

  

  

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MARCH 29, 2012  

  

  

  

A RESOLUTION

  

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Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.

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WHEREAS, The War of 1812 was a result of resentment of

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Britain's interference with American international trade,

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combined with American expansionist visions; and

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WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States declared war on

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Great Britain on June 18, 1812; and

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WHEREAS, Initially, the American navy was victorious in the

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Atlantic Ocean and on Lake Erie, but a number of defeats by the

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British demoralized the Americans; and

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WHEREAS, On August 24, 1814, British troops marched into

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Washington, DC, and burned the Capitol Building and the White

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House; and

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WHEREAS, The future of the United States was in jeopardy when

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the British attacked Baltimore, Maryland; and

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WHEREAS, British warships started firing bombs and rockets on

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Fort McHenry, which protected the city's harbor, on September

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13, 1814; and

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WHEREAS, The bombardment continued for 25 hours when Francis

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Scott Key, who was aboard a ship several miles from the harbor,

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could barely make out an American flag waving above Fort

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McHenry; and

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WHEREAS, That flag was sewn by Mary Pickersgill in 1813 as

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one of two garrison flags for Fort McHenry; and

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WHEREAS, The flag became the Star-Spangled Banner; and

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WHEREAS, Key, with British ships withdrawing from Baltimore,

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realized that America had stopped the British advance and wrote

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a song celebrating "that star-spangled banner" as a symbol of

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America's victory and perseverance; and

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WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the inconclusive outcome of the war,

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the conflict helped establish the credibility of this country

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among other nations; therefore be it

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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the

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200th anniversary of the War of 1812.

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