2. A new millennium, a new decade,
and a new year begins on
January 1, 2001!
But tragedy soon follows.
America is attacked.
3. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijack
commercial planes. They fly them into the
World Trade Center in New York City.
4. Many people die. The
twin towers of the World
Trade Center are
destroyed.
The people of the United
States show their
patriotism by flying the
American flag.
5. The American Flag
has special meaning.
Its stars and stripes show many states
joined into one United States of America.
6. In 1777, the Second Continental
Congress passed the first flag act.
“Resolved, That the flag
of the United States be
made of thirteen stripes,
alternate red and white;
that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field,
representing a new
Constellation.”
The Betsy Ross Flag
7. Today there are still 13 stripes
on the flag.
These stripes represent
the 13 original colonies.
8. Today there are 50 stars on the flag.
Each star represents a state.
9. To find North Carolina’s star, start on
the top row and count across each
row—left to right—until you get to the
12th star.
11. Every year on June 14, Americans
celebrate Flag Day.
On June 14, 1777, the
Second Continental
Congress adopted the
flag for their new country.
Flag day is not a federal
holiday.
12. The flag inspired our National Anthem.
• Francis Scott Key was an
American lawyer. In the War of
1812, he was negotiating a
prisoner exchange. He was on a
British ship in Baltimore Harbor.
• That night the British bombed
Fort McHenry with military
rockets.
13. • When dawn came, Key was
amazed to see the Stars and
Stripes still flying above the fort.
• He wrote the words to the
Star Spangled Banner.
• Congress made this song our
National Anthem in 1931.
You can play the Star Spangled Banner on the web site below. Click on the
triangle near the music notes (lower right corner) of the web site. Be sure
your sound is on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
14. 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 through 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?
15. Proper Respect
• The National Anthem honors the flag
and should be treated with the same
respect.
