NMAH | The Lyrics The Lyrics Sing The National Anthem Francis Scott Key was a gifted amateur poet. Inspired by the sight of the American flag flying over Fort McHenry the morning after the bombardment, he scribbled the initial verse of his song on the back of a letter. Back in Baltimore, he completed the four verses (PDF) and copied them onto a sheet of paper, probably making more than one copy. A local printer issued the new song as a broadside. Shortly afterward, two Baltimore newspapers published it, and by mid-October it had appeared in at least seventeen other papers in cities up and down the East Coast. This 19th century version (MP3) of the Star-Spangled Banner was performed on original instruments from the National Museum of American History's collection. Arranged by G. W. E. Friederich, the music is played as it would have been heard in 1854. The Star-Spangled Banner O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d 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, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream, ’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation! Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Francis Scott Key Key’s Manuscript This is the earliest known manuscript of Key’s song. It is probably one of several drafts that Key made before sending the copy to the printer. Defence of Fort McHenry This is the first known printing of Key's poem. Called a broadside, it was probably printed in Baltimore on Sept. 17, 1814. The Star-Spangled Banner The first sheet-music issue of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was printed by Thomas Carr’s Music store in Baltimore in 1814. Courtesy Maryland Historical Society.

A Family Song During the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” became one of the nation’s best-loved patriotic songs, performed during both public events and more personal gatherings. Elmira Cornet Band, Civil War The song’s popularity increased enormously during the Civil War. Because the song extolled the national flag—a symbol of loyalty to the Union—Northerners enthusiastically embraced it as a patriotic anthem. Francis Scott Key 1780-1843 Francis Scott Key was a respected young lawyer living in Georgetown just west of where the modern day Key Bridge crosses the Potomac River (the house was torn down after years of neglect in 1947). He made his home there from 1804 to around 1833 with his wife Mary and their six sons and five daughters. At the time, Georgetown was a thriving town of 5,000 people just a few miles from the Capitol, the White House, and the Federal buildings of Washington. But, after war broke out in 1812 over Britian's attempts to regulate American shipping and other activities while Britain was at war with France, all was not tranquil in Georgetown.

The British had entered Chesapeake Bay on August 19th, 1814, and by the evening of the 24th of August, the British had invaded and captured Washington. They set fire to the Capitol and the White House, the flames visible 40 miles away in Baltimore. President James Madison,his wife Dolley, and his Cabinet had already fled to a safer location. Such was their haste to leave that they had had to rip the Stuart portrait of George Washington from the walls without its frame! A thunderstorm at dawn kept the fires from spreading. The next day more buildings were burned and again a thunderstorm dampened the fires. Having done their work the British troops returned to their ships in and around the Chesapeake Bay. In the days following the attack on Washington, the American forces prepared for the assault on Baltimore (population 40,000) that they knew would come by both land and sea. Word soon reached Francis Scott Key that the British had carried off an elderly and much loved town physician of Upper Marlboro, Dr. William Beanes, and was being held on the British flagship TONNANT. The townsfolk feared that Dr. Beanes would be hanged.

They asked Francis Scott Key for his help, and he agreed, and arranged to have Col. John Skinner, an American agent for prisoner exchange to accompany him. On the morning of September 3rd, he and Col. Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard a sloop flying a flag of truce approved by President Madison. On the 7th they found and boarded the TONNANT to confer with Gen. Ross and Adm. Alexander Cochrane. At first they refused to release Dr. Beanes. But Key and Skinner produced a pouch of letters written by wounded British prisoners praising the care they were receiving from the Americans, among them Dr. Beanes. The British officers relented but would not release the three Americans immediately because they had seen and heard too much of the preparations for the attack on Baltimore. They were placed under guard, first aboard the H.M.S. Surprise, then onto the sloop and forced to wait out the battle behind the British fleet. Now let's go back to the summer of 1813 for a moment. At the star-shaped Fort McHenry, the commander, Maj. George Armistead, asked for a flag so big that "the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance".

Two officers, a Commodore and a General, were sent to the Baltimore home of Mary Young Pickersgill, a "maker of colours," and commisioned the flag. Mary and her thirteen year old daughter Caroline, working in an upstairs front bedroom, used 400 yards of best quality wool bunting. They cut 15 stars that measured two feet from point to point. Eight red and seven white stripes, each two feet wide, were cut. Laying out the material on the malthouse floor of Claggett's Brewery, a neighborhood establishment, the flag was sewn together. By August it was finished. It measured 30 by 42 feet and cost $405.90. The Baltimore Flag House, a museum, now occupies her premises, which were restored in 1953. At 7 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1814, the British bombardment began, and the flag was ready to meet the enemy.

The bombardment continued for 25 hours,the British firing 1,500 bombshells that weighed as much as 220 pounds and carried lighted fuses that would supposedly cause it to explode when it reached its target. But they weren't very dependable and often blew up in mid air. From special small boats the British fired the new Congreve rockets that traced wobbly arcs of red flame across the sky. The Americans had sunk 22 vessels so a close approach by the British was not possible. That evening the connonading stopped, but at about 1 a.m. on the 14th, the British fleet roared to life, lighting the rainy night sky with grotesque fireworks. Key, Col. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes watched the battle with apprehension. They knew that as long as the shelling continued, Fort McHenry had not surrendered. But, long before daylight there came a sudden and mysterious silence. What the three Americans did not know was that the British land assault on Baltimore as well as the naval attack, had been abandoned. Judging Baltimore as being too costly a prize, the British officers ordered a retreat.

Waiting in the predawn darkness, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety; the joyous sight of Gen. Armisteads great flag blowing in the breeze. When at last daylight came, the flag was still there! Being an amatuer poet and having been so uniquely inspired, Key began to write on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. Sailing back to Baltimore he composed more lines and in his lodgings at the Indian Queen Hotel he finished the poem. Judge J. H. Nicholson, his brother-in-law, took it to a printer and copies were circulated around Baltimore under the title "Defence of Fort M'Henry". Two of these copies survive. It was printed in a newspaper for the first time in the Baltimore Patriot on September 20th,1814, then in papers as far away as Georgia and New Hampshire. To the verses was added a note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven." In October a Baltimore actor sang Key's new song in a public performance and called it "The Star-Spangled Banner". Immediately popular, it remained just one of several patriotic airs until it was finally adopted as our national anthem on March 3, 1931.

But the actual words were not included in the legal documents. Key himself had written several versions with slight variations so discrepancies in the exact wording still occur. The flag, our beloved Star-Spangled Banner, went on view ,for the first time after flying over Fort McHenry, on January 1st,1876 at the Old State House in Philadelphia for the nations' Centennial celebration. It now resides in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History. An opaque curtain shields the now fragile flag from light and dust. The flag is exposed for viewing for a few moments once every hour during museum hours. Francis Scott Key was a witness to the last enemy fire to fall on Fort McHenry. The Fort was designed by a Frenchman named Jean Foncin and was named for then Secretary of war James McHenry. Fort McHenry holds the unique designation of national monument and historic shrine. Since May 30th, 1949 the flag has flown continuously, by a Joint Resolution of Congress, over the monument marking the site of Francis Scott Key's birthplace, Terra Rubra Farm, Carroll County, Keymar, Maryland.

The copy that Key wrote in his hotel September 14,1814, remained in the Nicholson family for 93 years. In 1907 it was sold to Henry Walters of Baltimore. In 1934 it was bought at auction in New York from the Walters estate by the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore for $26,400. The Walters Gallery in 1953 sold the manuscript to the Maryland Historical Society for the same price. Another copy that Key made is in the Library of Congress. The Lyrics of the National Anthem - Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (U.S. National Park Service) Step 4 1) Motivation: Teacher will play an instrumental of the National Anthem. Students will work in small groups or in pairs to write the title and words of the song. (The song may be played more than once, if necessary.) Post the actual words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" (either on a transparency or chart paper). Discuss with students how accurate their versions are compared to the actual version. Were there any students who were able to recollect all of the words accurately?

Explain that the words of the song were written as a poem by a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, who was being held on a British ship through the bombardment of Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812. The words were written as a reflection of that event. Ask: So, what was Key writing about? 2) Guided Practice: Explain that students will attempt to figure out what Key was witnessing during the bombardment by reflecting on some of the lines of the first stanza of the poem that was to become our National Anthem. Model by dissecting the first two lines of "The Star-Spangled Banner;" the teacher should use the "think aloud" strategy while reciting the lines. For example, while reading, "O! Say can you see by the dawns early light," the teacher may comment, "What does that mean to me? I know the word, 'dawn,' so maybe it means 'look over there, where there is a little early sunlight." Teacher should write down paraphrased version for students to view.

Continue on by saying, "...what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming?' What does that mean?" Encourage students to give interpretation; an acceptable response would be similar to "That thing we were so proud of last night." Keep the lyrics to the first stanza posted throughout the lesson as well as the paraphrased version on the first two lines so that students can refer to it throughout the lesson. 3) Independent Practice: Divide students into four groups. Each group will receive a sentence strip with one or two lines of the "Star-Spangled Banner" written on it. Group members will work together to try and paraphrase what the line(s) mean, just as the teacher modeled. Lines to be given to students: Group 1: Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight Group 2: O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? Group 3: And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, Group 4: O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The teacher may differentiate the process by having students rotate the lines among the groups so that each group will make an attempt to paraphrase each part of the stanza. Then compare. The teacher may also accommodate by giving the shorter lines (Group 1 and 2) to those who may need extended time or for those who may struggle with written language. 4) Closure: Explain to students that in the years leading up to "The Star-Spangled Banner" becoming our National Anthem (in 1931) there were many people that debated that there were better patriotic songs that could be used. Inform the students that some still debate this same topic today. Many feel that the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" do not reflect us accurately as the nation we are today. Use details from the lesson about "The Star-Spangled Banner" to answer the questions: Is "The Star-Spangled Banner" a good national anthem for the United States? Why or Why not? Are their other song options that may be better? Should someone write a new national anthem? What events or descriptions should the song contain? Students should use the worksheet, "National Anthem" to record their thoughts.

This response may be a journal entry, classroom assignment, or home assignment. Responses may lead to lesson extensions. 9 Things You May Not Know About “The Star-Spangled Banner” - History in the Headlines 9 Things You May Not Know About “The Star-Spangled Banner” September 12, 2014 By Christopher Klein Share Why does the American flag have 13 stripes? Get all the facts and figures on "Old Glory." Share this: 9 Things You May Not Know About “The Star-Spangled Banner” Author 9 Things You May Not Know About “The Star-Spangled Banner” URL Google By the dawn’s early light on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key peered through a spyglass and spotted an American flag still waving over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry after a fierce night of British bombardment. In a patriotic fervor, the man called “Frank” Key by family and friends penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Two hundred years later, learn nine surprising facts about the national anthem of the United States and the man who wrote its lyrics. 1. Francis Scott Key intended his verses to be song lyrics, not poetry.

“The Star Spangled-Banner” was not a poem set to a melody years later. Although Key was an amateur poet and not a songwriter, when he composed his verses, he intended them to accompany a popular song of the day. “We know he had the tune in mind because the rhyme and meter exactly fit it,” says Marc Leepson, author of the new Key biography “What So Proudly We Hailed.” The first broadside of the verses, printed just days after the battle, noted that the words should be sung to the melody of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key was quite familiar with the tune, having used it to accompany an 1805 poem, which included a reference to a “star-spangled flag,” he had written to honor Barbary War naval heroes Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart. Although Key composed the patriotic lyrics amid a burst of anti-British euphoria, “To Anacreon in Heaven” was ironically an English song composed in 1775 that served as the theme song of the upper-crust Anacreontic Society of London and a popular pub staple. 2. Key was not imprisoned on a British warship when he penned his verses.

In his capacity as a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Key had been dispatched by President James Madison on a mission to Baltimore to negotiate for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent surgeon captured at the Battle of Bladensburg. Accompanied by John Stuart Skinner, a fellow lawyer working for the State Department, Key set sail on an American sloop in Baltimore Harbor, and on September 7 the pair boarded the British ship Tonnant, where they dined and secured the prisoner’s release under one condition—they could not go ashore until after the British attacked Baltimore. Accompanied by British guards on September 10, Key returned to the American sloop from which he witnessed the bombardment behind the 50-ship British fleet. The garrison flag that was raised over Fort McHenry, on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. 3. The flag Key “hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming” did not fly “through the perilous fight.” In addition to a thunderstorm of bombs, a torrent of rain fell on Fort McHenry throughout the night of the Battle of Baltimore.

The fort’s 30-by-42-foot garrison flag was so massive that it required 11 men to hoist when dry, and if waterlogged the woolen banner could have weighed upwards of 500 pounds and snapped the flagpole. So as the rain poured down, a smaller storm flag that measured 17-by-25 feet flew in its place. “In the morning they most likely took down the rain-soaked storm flag and hoisted the bigger one,” Leepson says, “and that’s the flag Key saw in the morning.” 4. The song was not originally entitled “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When Key scrawled his lyrics on the back of a letter he pulled from his pocket on the morning of September 14, he did not give them any title. Within a week, Key’s verses were printed on broadsides and in Baltimore newspapers under the title “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” In November, a Baltimore music store printed the patriotic song with sheet music for the first time under the more lyrical title “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Key's handwritten draft 5. It did not become the national anthem until more than a century after it was written.

Along with “Hail Columbia” and “Yankee Doodle,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” was among the prevalent patriotic airs in the aftermath of the War of 1812. During the Civil War, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was an anthem for Union troops, and the song increased in popularity in the ensuing decades, which led to President Woodrow Wilson signing an executive order in 1916 designating it as “the national anthem of the United States” for all military ceremonies. On March 3, 1931, after 40 previous attempts failed, a measure passed Congress and was signed into law that formally designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem of the United States. 6. The national anthem has four verses. The version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” traditionally sung on patriotic occasions and at sporting events is only the song’s first verse.

All four verses conclude with the same line: “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” (In 1861, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a fifth verse to support the Union cause in the Civil War and denounce “the traitor that dares to defile the flag of her stars.”) 7. Key opposed American entry into the War of 1812. Ironically, the man who created one of the lasting patriotic legacies of the War of 1812 adamantly opposed the conflict at its outset. Key referred to the war as “abominable” and “a lump of wickedness.” However, his opposition to the war softened after the British began to raid nearby Chesapeake Bay communities in 1813 and 1814, and he briefly served in a Georgetown wartime militia. Francis Scott Key 8. Key was a consummate Washington insider. Although Key loathed politics, he was a prominent figure in Washington, D.C. “He was an important player in the early republic,” Leepson says.

“He was a very successful and influential lawyer at the highest levels in Washington.” Key ran a thriving law practice, served as a trusted advisor in Andrew Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet” and was appointed a United States Attorney in 1833. He prosecuted hundreds of cases, including that of Richard Lawrence for the attempted assassination of Jackson, and argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court. 9. Key was a one-hit wonder who might have been tone deaf. Key was much more adept in his legal day job than he was as an amateur poet. Most of the odes he composed were never meant to be seen beyond family and friends, and none came remotely close to realizing the popular fame of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In addition to being a middling poet, Key also had a hard time carrying a tune.

“Key’s family said he was not musical,” Leepson says, “which means he likely was tone deaf.” Tags The Story Behind the National Anthem - Francis Scott Key The Story Behind the National Anthem "Lest We Forget" [The following presentation was given in Sunday School, on September 5, 2010.] Before we have our Pledge of Allegiance, Iï¿½d like to remind you about something that happened 196 years ago (nearly 200 years ago). Itï¿½s the true story about our national anthem. It was the War of 1812, our country was once again at war with the British. In 1814 the British had won a major victory at the very center of our nationï¿½s capital. In August of 1814, British troops marched into Washington, D.C., and set the Capitol building and White House ablaze, as well as some other buildings. The President of the United States, President Madison, had to flee the city. The enemy then decided to attack the city of Baltimore, which at the time was the third largest city in America.

Baltimore was protected by a fort, Fort McHenry (see above). If the British ships were to attack Baltimore they would have to destroy this fort. The fort had ramparts, mounds of earth that were piled up as a fortification, for protection. The commander of the Fort was George Armistead. A year earlier Armistead asked a woman, Mary Pickersgill, to sew two flags for Fort McHenry. Mary was 37 years old and she was a widow. The smaller flag was 17 X 25-foot storm flag for use in bad weather, but the flag that became the Star-Spangled Banner was a huge flag which was 30 feet tall and 42 feet long. This giant flag had broad stripes and bright stars. The width of our sanctuary from wall to wall is 46 feet; this flag was almost that long! The ceiling of our sanctuary is 25 feet tall from the floor. That flag was 30 feet tall! This flag was so big it could not even be hung in our auditorium! And spangled on that giant flag were 15 stars!

Today we have 50 stars spangled on our American banner, but back in 1813 they didnï¿½t have that many states. Commander Armistead knew that the British would probably try to invade Baltimore and he wanted a flag so large that the British couldnï¿½t miss it. One year after the flag was made the invasion of Baltimore took place. Many, many British warships made their way through Chesapeake Bay headed for Baltimore and for Fort McHenry. It was mid-September in the year 1814. At the same time there was a 35 year old lawyer by the name of Francis Scott Key. He was concerned about his friend, a medical doctor, who had been captured by the British. Francis Scott Key, the lawyer, and another man who acted as the negotiator were able to get permission to board a British warship. They were able to successfully negotiate the release of their friend. The British promised to free the prisoner, but the Americans were not allowed to go back to shore until after the battle.

Instead they were put in a small ship that was under British control, and from that location, out on the water, they were able to witness the bombardment of the Fort. On September 13, 1814, a whole fleet of British warships began firing bombs and rockets on Fort McHenry, this fort which protected Baltimoreï¿½s harbor. The bombardment continued all day and all night while the nation awaited news of Baltimoreï¿½s fate. The bombs were bursting in air everywhere. It was a perilous fight. The British guns had a range of 2 miles but the American guns had a range of only a mile and a half. Thus the Americans in the fort were like sitting ducks. They had to endure the oncoming bombs but their bombs and cannon balls could not reach the enemy ships. As believers in Christ we are reminded that the Lord is our fort, our refuge, our place of safety, and no matter what kind of bombs or fiery darts the enemy hurls are us, God can keep us safe (Psalm 46). As twilight gave itï¿½s last gleams of light, Francis Scott Key could still proudly see the American Flag.

At this point the Fort had been bombarded for more than 12 hours. The battle continued into the dark. It was like a massive fireworks display as the sky would light up with each explosion. As the rockets gave forth their red glare and as the bombs burst in the air, the flag could be seen, giving proof to Francis Scott Key and his friends that the America Flag was still there. They caught glimpses of it through the night as it was illuminated by the explosives. At one point during the night a bomb crashed right into the area of the fort where the gun powder was stored. What an explosion that would have caused! But for some reason that bomb did not go off. It was a dud. Late in the early morning hours, when it was still dark, the bombs stopped and there was an eerie silence that lasted for some time. Mr. Key was wondering if the flag was still there. Even when the dawnï¿½s early light broke forth, it was hard to see due to the haze and smoke and fog of that morning. They didnï¿½t know what they would see. Would the American flag be gone? Would a British flag be flying in its place?

Suddenly at about 7:00 oï¿½clock, a break in the mist cleared the view for a moment, and they saw the thrilling sight of the American flag still flying over the walls of the fort. Mr. Key was so excited he pulled out an unfinished letter from his pocket and started writing verses to a poem. He wrote most of the words of that song in a few minutes. Later that day the British released the Americans and Key returned to Baltimore where he finished the poem. Just three months later the British signed a peace treaty and the war ended. ______________________________________________________ Francis Scott Key was a man of faith in Jesus Christ. He believed that America was a heaven rescued land and that we should "praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto, IN GOD IS OUR TRUST." A hundred and forty-two years after he wrote these lines "IN GOD WE TRUST" officially became our nationï¿½s motto (in 1956). Francis Scott Key was involved in the American Sunday School Union, and was instrumental in planting thousands of Sunday Schools in settlements throughout the Midwest.

Later in his life he became the Vice President of the American Bible Society because he believed that we would be the land of the free and the home of the brave only if we as a nation would follow Biblical principles, and he knew that the Word of God needed to get into the hands and into the hearts of the American people. [Note: According to David Barton, the flag that flew over the fort for most of the night was the smaller flag (the storm flag), but at dawn the Americans raised the larger flag. I wasnï¿½t able to confirm this from other sources. --George Zeller] Star Spangled Banner Facts Home > Facts > US History Facts > Star Spangled Banner Facts Star Spangled Banner Facts Star Spangled Banner Facts The United States national anthem is "The Star Spangled Banner". This song's lyrics originated as a poem written in 1814 titled "Defence of Fort McHenry" written by Francis Scott Key. He wrote the poem after watching British ships bombard Fort McHenry in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. The poem was later set to music written by John Stafford Smith that had accompanied a British song titled "To Anacreon in Heaven". The U.S.

Navy adopted "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem in 1889. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized the song as the national anthem, and in 1931 the U.S. Congress made it official. Interesting Star Spangled Banner Facts: Other songs that were used officially in the United States prior to officially declaring "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem include "Hail, Columbia" and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee". Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" while on a mission to make a prisoner exchange for Dr. William Beanes, who had been captured by the British. Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship until the end of the bombardment of Fort McHenry. He agreed to stay aboard the ship as part of condition of release of Dr. William Beanes, and wrote the poem when he realized the next morning that the Americans had won the battle and their flag was still flying. The lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner" were first published in two newspapers called The American and the Baltimore Patriot on September 20th, 1814.

Soon after the first printings of the song it was printed by 17 more newspapers. It was being printed under its original title "Defence of Fort McHenry" with a note that said, "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The first public performance of the song occurred in 1814, when Ferdinand Durang, an actor from Baltimore, sang it at a tavern called Captain McCauley's. The flag that was raised over Fort McHenry is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History today. This is the flag that Francis Scott Key saw the morning after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner" has four verses. "The Star Spangled Banner" is commonly sung at sporting events and on patriotic occasions, although usually it is only the first verse of the song that is sung. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a fifth verse to "The Star Spangled Banner" in 1861. The fifth verse was written in support of the Union cause during the Civil War. Some believe that Francis Scott Key was tone deaf. His family said he wasn't musical and had a hard time carrying a tune.

The original edition of the sheet music published in 1814 had a spelling error in the subtitle. It reads "A Pariotic Song: instead of "A Patriotic Song". "The Star Spangled Banner" was officially and legally signed into law by Congress as the United States national anthem in 1931. There had been 40 previous attempts to designate the song as the national anthem but all those attempts had failed. Related Links: Francis Scott Key - Francis Scott Key Biography - Poem Hunter Francis Scott Key - Francis Scott Key Biography - Poem Hunter Biography Biography of Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Life Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain John Ross Key at the family plantation Terra Rubra in what was Frederick County and is now Carroll County, Maryland. His father John Ross Key was a lawyer, a judge and an officer in the Continental Army. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both born in London, England, immigrated to Maryland in 1726.

He studied law at St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland and also learned under his uncle Philip Barton Key. "The Star-Spangled Banner" During the War of 1812, Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr. William Beanes. Beanes was a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland and had been captured by the British after he placed rowdy stragglers under citizen's arrest with a group of men. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop: they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of September 13–14, 1814.

At dawn, Key was able to see an American flag still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, "Defence of Fort McHenry", which he published in the Patriot on September 20, 1814. He intended to fit it to the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's "To Anacreon in Heaven", a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song "When the Warrior Returns," celebrating U.S. heroes of the First Barbary War. (Key used the "star spangled" flag imagery in the earlier song.) It has become better known as "The Star Spangled Banner". Under this name, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play it) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover. In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "In God We Trust" by law in 1956.

Later Life From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the American Bible Society. In 1832, Key served as the attorney for Sam Houston during his trial in the U.S. House of Representatives for assaulting another Congressman. He published a prose work called The Power of Literature, and Its Connection with Religion in 1834. In 1835, Key prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President of the United States Andrew Jackson. In 1843, Key died at the home of his daughter Elizabeth Howard in Baltimore from pleurisy and was initially interred in Old Saint Paul's Cemetery in the vault of John Eager Howard. In 1866, his body was moved to his family plot in Frederick at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Though Key had written poetry from time to time, often with heavily religious themes, these works were not collected and published until 14 years after his death. The Key Monument Association erected a memorial in 1898 and the remains of both Francis Scott Key and his wife were placed in a crypt in the base of the monument.

Other Related Items In 1861, Key's grandson Francis Key Howard, was imprisoned in Fort McHenry with the Mayor of Baltimore, George William Brown, and other locals deemed to be pro-South. Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of F. Scott Fitzgerald whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan, guitarist Dana Key, and the American fashion designer and socialite Pauline de Rothschild. Key's daughter, Alice, married U.S. Senator George H. Pendleton. His sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married Roger B. Taney, future Chief Justice of the United States and author of the Court's Dred Scott decision. Key's son, Philip Barton Key II was shot and killed by then-congressman and future Civil War general Daniel Sickles in 1859 after Sickles discovered that his wife was having an affair with Philip Barton Key. Sickles was acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity defense.

Two of Key's religious poems used as Christian hymns include "Before the Lord We Bow" and "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee." While there were three efforts to save the Francis Scott Key residence, it was dismantled in 1947. The residence was located at 3516–18 M Street in Georgetown. Monuments and Memorials Two bridges are named in his honor. The first is the Francis Scott Key Bridge between the Rosslyn section of Arlington County, Virginia, and Georgetown in Washington, D.C.. Scott's Georgetown home, which was dismantled in 1947 (as part of construction for the Whitehurst Freeway), was located on M Street NW, in the area between the Key Bridge and the intersection of M Street and Whitehurst Freeway. The location is illustrated on a sign in the Francis Scott Key park. The other bridge is the Francis Scott Key Bridge, part of the Baltimore Beltway crossing the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is located at the approximate point where the British anchored to shell Fort McHenry. St.

John's College, Annapolis, which Key graduated from in 1796, has an auditorium named in his honor. Francis Scott Key was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick. His family plot is next to Thomas Johnson, the first governor of Maryland, and friend Barbara Fritchie, who allegedly waved the American flag out of her home in defiance of Stonewall Jackson's march through the city during the Civil War. Fritchie's resistance was memorialized in a poem by Poet Laureate John Greenleaf Whittier. Francis Scott Key Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park is named in his honor. The George Washington University also has a residence hall in Key's honor at the corner of 20th and F Streets. Francis Scott Key also has a school named after him in Brooklyn, New York. I.S 117 is a junior high school located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Willoughby Avenue. It houses 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms as well as a District 75 Special Education unit.

The Special Education classes include children who are emotionally disturbed. For more information on the school and its programs please visit the schools main site, P369k, located in Downtown Brooklyn. A monument to Key was commissioned by San Francisco businessman James Lick, who donated some $60,000 for a sculpture of Key to be raised in Golden Gate Park. The travertine monument was executed by sculptor William W. Story in Rome in 1885–87. The city of San Francisco recently allocated some $140,000 to renovate the Key monument, which was about to be lost to environmental degradation if repairs weren't made. Repairs were recently finished on the monument located in the music concourse outside the de Young Museum. The US Navy named a submarine in his honor, the USS Francis Scott Key This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Francis Scott Key; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License . You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA. Francis Scott Key Poems Francis Scott Key - Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (U.S.

National Park Service) Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, in western Maryland. His family was very wealthy and owned an estate called "Terra Rubra." When Francis was 10 years old, his parents sent him to grammar school in Annapolis. After graduating at the age of 17, he began to study law in Annapolis while working with his uncle's law firm. By 1805, he had a well-established law practice of his own in Georgetown, a surburb of Washington, D.C. By 1814, he had appeared many times before the Supreme Court, and had been appointed the United States District Attorney. Francis Scott Key was a deeply religious man. At one time in his life, he almost gave up his law practice to enter the ministry. Instead, he resolved to become involved in the Episcopal Church. Because of his religious beliefs, Key was strongly opposed to the War of 1812. However, due to his deep love for his country, he did serve for a brief time in Captain George Peter's Georgetown Light Field Artillery in 1813.

Following the British capture of Washington on August 24, 1814, Dr. William Beanes, a prominent physician was taken prisoner by the British. Since Key was a well-known lawyer, he was asked to assist in efforts to get Dr. Beanes released. Knowing that the British were in the Chesapeake Bay, Key left for Baltimore. There Key met with Colonel John Skinner, a government agent who arranged for prisoner exchanges. Together, on September 5, they set out on a small American flag-of-truce vessel to meet the Royal Navy. On board the British flagship, HMS Tonnant, the officers were very kind to Key and Skinner. They agreed to release Dr. Beanes. However, the three men were not permitted to return to Baltimore until after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The three Americans were placed aboard the American ship, and waited behind the British fleet. From a distance of approximately eight miles, Key and his friends watched the British bombard Fort McHenry. After 25 hours of continuous bombing, the British decided to leave since they were unable to destroy the fort as they had hoped. Realizing that the British had ceased the attack, Key looked toward the fort to see if the flag was still there.

To his relief, the flag was still flying! Quickly, he wrote down the words to a poem which was soon handed out as a handbill under the title "Defence of Fort McHenry." Later, the words were set to music, and renamed "The Star Spangled Banner." It became a popular patriotic song. It was not until March 3, 1931, however, that it became our national anthem. After the war, Francis Scott Key continued to live a very religious life. He was well-liked by his friends and was active in society. On January 11, 1843, while visiting his daughter in Baltimore, Key died of pleurisy. To honor the author of "The Star Spangled Banner," there are monuments at Fort McHenry and on Eutaw Place in Baltimore, and at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

Key pens Star-Spangled Banner - Sep 13, 1814 - HISTORY.com Key pens Star-Spangled Banner Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore. After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed. The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events.

It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843. Today, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1914 is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Related Videos

Question: The words of the national anthem for which country were written by Francis Scott Key?
Answer: USA