NMAH | A Moment of Triumph A Moment of Triumph Then in that hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, my heart spoke. —Francis Scott Key recalling the morning of September 14, 1814 By the “dawn’s early light” of September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key, who was aboard a ship several miles distant, could just make out an American flag waving above Fort McHenry. British ships were withdrawing from Baltimore, and Key realized that the United States had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance. Moved by the sight, he wrote a song celebrating “that star-spangled banner” as a symbol of America’s triumph and endurance. Collect Stars To Complete The Flag Found 00 of 15 When did Francis Scott Key write the lyrics that became the National Anthem?

July 4, 1814 The morning after the battle, September 14, 1814 The night before the battle, September 13, 1814 Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 Home › Encyclopedia Smithsonian › History and Culture Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonians National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Quick Facts about the Star-Spangled Banner Flag Made in Baltimore, Maryland, in July-August 1813 by flagmaker Mary Pickersgill Commissioned by Major George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry Original size: 30 feet by 42 feet Current size: 30 feet by 34 feet Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes (one star has been cut out) Raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner Preserved by the Armistead family as a memento of the battle First loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907; converted to permanent gift in 1912 On exhibit at the National Museum of American History since 1964 Major, multi-year conservation effort launched in 1998 Plans for new permanent exhibition gallery now underway Making the Star-Spangled Banner In June 1813, Major George Armistead arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, to take command of Fort McHenry, built to guard the water entrance to the city.

Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to sew two flags for the fort: a smaller storm flag (17 by 25 ft) and a larger garrison flag (30 by 42 ft). She was hired under a government contract and was assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl. The larger of these two flags would become known as the Star-Spangled Banner. Pickersgill stitched it from a combination of dyed English wool bunting (red and white stripes and blue union) and white cotton (stars). Each star is about two feet in diameter, each stripe about 24 inches wide. The Star-Spangled Banners impressive scale (about one-fourth the size of a modern basketball court) reflects its purpose as a garrison flag. It was intended to fly from a flagpole about ninety feet high and be visible from great distances. At its original dimensions of 30 by 42 feet, it was larger than the modern garrison flags used today by the United States Army, which have a standard size of 20 by 38 feet.

The first Flag Act, adopted on June 14, 1777, created the original United States flag of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. The Star-Spangled Banner has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes as provided for in the second Flag Act approved by Congress on January 13, 1794. The additional stars and stripes represent Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) joining the Union. (The third Flag Act, passed on April 4, 1818, reduced the number of stripes back to thirteen to honor the original thirteen colonies and provided for one star for each state  a new star to be added to the flag on the Fourth of July following the admission of each new state.) Pickersgill spent between six and eight weeks making the flags, and they were delivered to Fort McHenry on August 19, 1813. The government paid $405.90 for the garrison flag and $168.54 for the storm flag. The garrison flag would soon after be raised at Fort McHenry and ultimately find a permanent home at the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of American History.

The whereabouts of the storm flag are not known. The War of 1812 and the Burning of Washington Although its events inspired one of our most famous national songs, the War of 1812 is itself a relatively little-known war in American history. Despite its complicated causes and inconclusive outcome, the conflict helped establish the credibility of the young United States among other nations. It also fostered a strong sense of national pride among the American people, and those patriotic feelings are reflected and preserved in the song we know today as our national anthem. Britains defeat at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown marked the conclusion of the American Revolution and the beginning of new challenges for a new nation. Not even three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which formalized Britains recognition of the United States of America, the two countries were again in conflict. Resentment for Britains interference with American international trade and impressment of American sailors combined with American expansionist visions led Congress to declare war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.

In the early stages of the war, the American navy scored victories in the Atlantic and on Lake Erie while Britain concentrated its military efforts on its ongoing war with France. But with the defeat of Emperor Napoleons armies in April 1814, Britain turned its full attention to the war against an ill-prepared United States. Admiral Alexander Cochrane, the British naval commander, prepared to attack U.S. coastal areas, and General Robert Ross sought to capture towns along the East Coast to create diversions while British army forces attacked along the northern boundaries of the United States. In August 1814, General Ross and his seasoned troops landed near the nations capital. On August 24, at Bladensburg, Maryland, about 30 miles from Washington, his five-thousand-member British force defeated an American army twice its size. That same night, British troops entered Washington. They set fire to the United States Capitol, the Presidents Mansion, and other public buildings. The local militia fled, and President James Madison and wife Dolley barely escaped. The Battle of Baltimore With Washington in ruins, the British next set their sights on Baltimore, then Americas third-largest city.

Moving up the Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Patapsco River, they plotted a joint attack on Baltimore by land and water. On the morning of September 12, General Rosss troops landed at North Point, Maryland, and progressed towards the city. They soon encountered the American forward line, part of an extensive network of defenses established around Baltimore in anticipation of the British assault. During the skirmish with American troops, General Ross, so successful in the attack on Washington, was killed by a sharpshooter. Surprised by the strength of the American defenses, British forces camped on the battlefield and waited for nightfall on September 13, planning to attempt another attack under cover of darkness. Meanwhile, Britains naval force, buoyed by its earlier successful attack on Alexandria, Virginia, was poised to strike Fort McHenry and enter Baltimore Harbor. At 6:30 AM on September 13, 1814, Admiral Cochranes ships began a 25-hour bombardment of the fort. Rockets whistled through the air and burst into flame wherever they struck.

Mortars fired 10- and 13-inch bombshells that exploded overhead in showers of fiery shrapnel. Major Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry and its defending force of one thousand troops, ordered his men to return fire, but their guns couldnt reach the enemys ships. When British ships advanced on the afternoon of the 13th, however, American gunners badly damaged them, forcing them to pull back out of range. All through the night, Armisteads men continued to hold the fort, refusing to surrender. That night British attempts at a diversionary attack also failed, and by dawn they had given up hope of taking the city. At 7:30 on the morning of September 14, Admiral Cochrane called an end to the bombardment, and the British fleet withdrew. The successful defense of Baltimore marked a turning point in the War of 1812. Three months later, on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent formally ended the war. Because the British attack had coincided with a heavy rainstorm, Fort McHenry had flown its smaller storm flag throughout the battle.

But at dawn, as the British began to retreat, Major Armistead ordered his men to lower the storm flag and replace it with the great garrison flag. As they raised the flag, the troops fired their guns and played Yankee Doodle in celebration of their victory. Waving proudly over the fort, the banner could be seen for miles aroundas far away as a ship anchored eight miles down the river, where an American lawyer named Francis Scott Key had spent an anxious night watching and hoping for a sign that the cityand the nationmight be saved. The Inspiration of Francis Scott Key: From Poem to Anthem Before departing from a ravaged Washington, British soldiers had arrested Dr. William Beanes of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on the charge that he was responsible for the arrests of British stragglers and deserters during the campaign to attack the nations capital. They subsequently imprisoned him on a British warship. Friends of Dr. Beanes asked Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key to join John S. Skinner, the U.S. governments agent for dealing with British forces in the Chesapeake, and help secure the release of the civilian prisoner.

They were successful; however, the British feared that Key and Skinner would divulge their plans for attacking Baltimore, and so they detained the two men aboard a truce ship for the duration of the battle. Key thus became an eyewitness to the bombardment of Fort McHenry. When he saw by the dawns early light of September 14, 1814, that the American flag soared above the fort, Key knew that Fort McHenry had not surrendered. Moved by the sight, he began to compose a poem on the back of a letter he was carrying. On September 16, Key and his companions were taken back to Baltimore and released. Key took a room in the Indian Queen Hotel and spent the night revising and copying out the four verses he had written about Americas victory. The next day he showed the poem to his wifes brother-in-law, Judge Joseph Nicholson, who had commanded a volunteer company at Fort McHenry. Nicholson responded enthusiastically and urged Key to have the poem printed.

First titled The Defence of Fort McHenry, the published broadside included instructions that it be sung to the 18th-century British melody Anacreon in Heaven  a tune Key had in mind when he penned his poem. Copies of the song were distributed to every man at the fort and around Baltimore. The first documented public performance of the words and music together took place at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore on October 19, 1814. A music store subsequently published the words and music under the title The Star-Spangled Banner. During the 19th century, The Star-Spangled Banner became one of the nations best-loved patriotic songs. It gained special significance during the Civil War, a time when many Americans turned to music to express their feelings for the flag and the ideals and values it represented. By the 1890s, the military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, requiring it to be played at the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1917, both the army and the navy designated the song the national anthem for ceremonial purposes.

Meanwhile, patriotic organizations had launched a campaign to have Congress recognize The Star-Spangled Banner as the U.S. national anthem. After several decades of attempts, a bill making The Star-Spangled Banner our official national anthem was finally passed by Congress and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931. The Star-Spangled Banner and the Smithsonian Sometime before his death in 1818, Lieutenant Colonel George Armistead acquired the flag that was immortalized in Keys poem as the Star-Spangled Banner. While there exists no documented evidence as to how Armistead came to possess the flag, it is generally understood that he simply kept it as a memento of the triumphant battle. At the death of Armisteads widow in 1861, the Star-Spangled Banner was bequeathed to his daughter, Georgiana Armistead Appleton, who recognized that it held national as well as familial significance. As its owner, she permitted the flag to be publicly exhibited on several occasions.

Eben Appleton, Armisteads grandson, inherited the flag from his mother in 1878. Faced with the publics increasing curiosity about the Star-Spangled Banner, he began to seek an appropriate repository. In 1907, Appleton lent the historic flag to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1912 he offered the flag as a permanent gift to the nation. He later wrote, It is always such a satisfaction to me to feel that the flag is just where it is, in possession for all time of the very best custodian, where it is beautifully displayed and can be conveniently seen by so many people. Snippings from the Star-Spangled Banner In the late 1800s, souvenirs, or relics, of important events and people in American history became highly prized and collectible objects. The Star-Spangled Banner, historic and celebrated, was subjected to this practice. The Armistead family received frequent requests for pieces of their flag, but reserved the treasured fragments for veterans, government officials, and other honored citizens.

As Georgiana Armistead Appleton noted, had we given all that we have been importuned for little would be left to show. Despite efforts to limit the practice, however, over two hundred square feet of the Star-Spangled Banner was eventually given away, including one of the stars. By giving away snippings, the Armisteads could share the Star-Spangled Banner with others who loved the flag. The citizens who received these mementos treated them with reverence and pride. Some framed and displayed these pieces of history in their homes; others donated them to museums. Today, the Smithsonians National Museum of American History has thirteen Star-Spangled Banner fragments in its collections. Since conservators and curators cannot be sure from which part of the flag these fragments were taken, the pieces cannot be integrated back into the flag. However, they can be analyzed, allowing conservators to document changes in the condition of the flags fibers and better understand how time and exposure to light and dirt have affected the flag. 1914 Conservation By the time it arrived at the Smithsonian in 1907, the Star-Spangled Banner was already in a fragile and tattered condition.

In 1914, the Smithsonian hired Amelia Fowler, a well-known flag restorer and embroidery teacher, to resuscitate the flag. Working with a team of ten needlewomen, Fowler first removed a canvas backing that had been attached to the flag in 1873, when it was displayed and photographed for the first time at the Boston Navy Yard by Admiral George Preble. The women then attached the flag to a new linen backing, sewing approximately 1.7 million interlocking stitches to form a honeycomb-like mesh over the flags surface. Fowlers work took eight weeks (mid-May to mid-July 1914), and she charged the Smithsonian $1243: $243 for materials, $500 for herself, and $500 to be divided among her ten needlewomen. The flag was then displayed in a glass case in the Smithsonians Arts and Industries Building. It remained on view there for nearly 50 years, except for two years during World War II, during which time it was housed in a government warehouse in Virginia, to be protected from possible bombing raids on the nations capital.

In 1964 the flag was moved to the new National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History), where it was displayed in the central hall on the second floor. 1998-2006 Conservation During the time that the Star-Spangled Banner was displayed in Flag Hall, museum staff recognized that inconsistent temperatures and humidity and high light levels had adversely affected the flag. In 1981, the Smithsonian began a two-year preservation effort: staff vacuumed the flag to reduce accumulated dust, installed new lighting and air-handling systems, and mounted a screen in front of the flag to protect it from light and damaging airborne matter. By 1994, museum officials recognized the need for further conservation, and in 1996 they began developing a plan to preserve the Star-Spangled Banner using modern, scientific conservation techniques. This most recent preservation effort was formally launched in 1998 with the flags inclusion in Save Americas Treasures, a wide-reaching Millennium preservation project initiated by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At this time, the flag was taken down from the wall where it had hung since 1964; in 1999, it was moved to the climate- and light-controlled conservation lab where it remains today. It took conservators nearly two years to remove Fowlers stitching and linen backing. Doing so allowed them to see the flags true condition and learn more about its construction. They examined the flags colors and fibers. They measured stains, holes, and mends, and removed those mends that stressed the fibers. The next step was to remove harmful materials from the flag. Using dry cosmetic sponges, conservators blotted the flag and lifted off much of the surface dirt; its composition offered insights into the flags history. After extensive research and analysis, conservators used an acetone/water solution to remove the most harmful contaminants. In the final phase, to prepare the Star-Spangled Banner for reinstallation in a permanent exhibition gallery, conservators attached a lightweight polyester fabric called Stabiltex to one side. This provides enough support to hold the flag together and allow it to be displayed.

The conservation goal has not been to restore or fix the flag, but rather to prevent further deterioration. A new Home Conservators and curators collaborated with architects and engineers to develop a long-term preservation plan for the Star-Spangled Banner. This included constructing a state-of-the-art flag chamber with a climate-controlled environment and low light levels, and displaying the flag at a shallow angle. All of these features will help preserve the flag for future generations. The state-of-the-art gallery opened November 21, 2008. Online exhibition The Star Spangled Banner (US National Anthem) Fort McHenry - YouTube The Star Spangled Banner (US National Anthem) Fort McHenry Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 29, 2015 The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States of America.

The lyrics come from Defence of Fort MHenry, a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in the Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a mens social club in London. To Anacreon in Heaven (or The Anacreontic Song), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Keys poem and renamed The Star-Spangled Banner, it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one octave and one fifth (a semitone more than an octave and a half), it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the poem has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today. The Star-Spangled Banner was recognized for official use by the U.S. Navy in 1889, and by U.S.

President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. Hail, Columbia served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. My Country, 'Tis of Thee, whose melody is identical to God Save the Queen, the British national anthem, also served as a de facto anthem. Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs emerged to compete for popularity at public events, among them The Star-Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Keys original manuscript copy of his Star-Spangled Banner poem. It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society. On September 3, 1814, following the Burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria, Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison.

Their objective was to secure the exchange of prisoners, one of whom was Dr. William Beanes, the elderly and popular town physician of Upper Marlboro and a friend of Keys who had been captured in his home. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of British soldiers. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant on September 7 and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner while the two officers discussed war plans. At first, Ross and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and other Americans for their kind treatment. Because Key and Skinner had heard details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard HMS Surprise and later back on HMS Minden. After the bombardment, certain British gunboats attempted to slip past the fort and effect a landing in a cove to the west of it, but they were turned away by fire from nearby Fort Covington, the citys last line of defense. An artists rendering of the battle at Fort McHenry.

During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the forts smaller storm flag continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. On the morning of September 14, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised. During the bombardment, HMS Erebus provided the rockets red glare. HMS Meteor provided at least some of the bombs bursting in air. The 15-star, 15-stripe Star Spangled Banner Flag which inspired the poem. Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, had been made by Mary Young Pickersgill together with other workers in her home on Baltimores Pratt Street. The flag later came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History, a treasure of the Smithsonian Institution. It was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.

Aboard the ship the next day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and titled it Defence of Fort MHenry. Category Who Wrote the National Anthem? | Wonderopolis Wonder of the Day #151 Who Wrote the National Anthem? Who wrote the national anthem? What inspired the lyrics of the national anthem? When did "The Star-Spangled Banner" become the U.S. national anthem? Tags: Listen During the War of 1812, 35-year-old Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and amateur poet , met with British military leaders aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant to plead for the release of a close friend who had been taken prisoner . Unfortunately, Key overheard certain details of the British plans for an impending attack on Baltimore. The British decided to hold him captive until after the battle. As a temporary prisoner , Key could do nothing but watch the American forces at Fort McHenry be bombarded by the British on the night of September 13, 1814.

Throughout the night, he saw that the fort's small storm flag continued to fly. Although the British bombed the fort for 25 hours, they weren't able to destroy it. When the smoke cleared in the morning, Key looked toward Fort McHenry to see if the flag was still there. He was overjoyed to see that the smaller storm flag had been replaced with a larger American flag, which was still triumphantly waving. Surprised and inspired by the sight of the American flag still flying above the fort, Key began writing a poem called “Defence of Fort McHenry" on the morning of September 14. He scribbled the first verses on the back of an envelope. After returning to Baltimore, he finished the poem in his room at the Indian Queen Hotel on September 16. He then showed his poem to his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph H. Nicholson. Nicholson recommended putting the words to the tune of “The Anacreontic Song," also called “To Anacreon in Heaven," a popular British song composed by John Stafford Smith. On September 20, 1814, the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song.

Soon afterward, Thomas Carr, the owner of a music store in Baltimore, published the words and music together with the name "The Star- Spangled Banner." Although “The Star- Spangled Banner" quickly became popular with Americans, it did not receive official recognition as the national anthem until many years later. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that it be played at all military functions. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a law that made “The Star- Spangled Banner" the official national anthem of the United States. Some people celebrate March 3 each year as unofficial National Anthem Day. The song is known for being difficult to sing because of its wide range — an octave and a half. Singers have also been known to forget the words occasionally, which has led some to choose to prerecord and lip-sync the song rather than perform it live. It has become a longstanding tradition to play “The Star- Spangled Banner" at the beginning of public sports events and other public gatherings in the United States. Wonder Words (14) Take the Wonder Word Challenge Wonder What's Next?

Animal lovers unite and join us in Wonderopolis tomorrow to learn more about species fighting to stay on Earth… and out of history books. Try It Out Whether at a sporting event or a Fourth of July celebration, you have probably heard the national anthem many times. But have you ever really thought about what the words mean? Take some time today to discuss why Francis Scott Key wrote these words. What did they mean to him in the context of witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812? What do they mean to you today? Here are the lyrics of the first stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner": O! 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 rockets' 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?

If you are feeling inspired, make your own American flag with this fun and easy “hands-on" craft idea. The Star-Spangled Banner - America’s National Anthem | InterExchange The Star-Spangled Banner America’s National Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics of the song come from a poem titled “Defence of Fort McHenry”, written by Francis Scott Key in September, 1814 after witnessing the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 . Over 200 years later, the song is now the most popular song of American patriotism and the official national song of the U.S. History Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons In 1814, lawyers Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner were tasked with carrying out a mission approved by President James Madison. The mission involved negotiating a prisoner exchange with the British in an effort to release Dr. William Beanes, a prominent surgeon that had been captured. After negotiations Key and Skinner were able to secure the prisoner’s release on British ships with the condition that they could not go ashore until after the British had attacked Baltimore. During the bombardment Francis Scott Key witnessed Fort McHenry’s storm flag flying in the night.

On the morning of September 14th, 1814 the storm flag was lowered and the larger, iconic Star-Spangled Banner flag had been raised. These events inspired Key to create a poem titled “Defence of Fort McHenry”. Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons The poem was eventually set to the tune of an already popular British song by John Stafford Smith, titled “The Anacreontic Song”. With Francis Scott Key’s lyrics, the song was retitled “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Over the next century the song became more and more popular as it was played at public events and Independence Day celebrations. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a law making The Star-Spangled Banner the official national anthem of the United States of America. Traditions and Customs The Star-Spangled Banner is traditionally played at the beginning of public sports events and orchestral concerts in the United States, in addition to other public gatherings. Many famous musicians have sung the national anthem at major sports events such as the World Series or the Super Bowl . When the national anthem is played, it is customary to stand and face the U.S. Flag with one’s right hand over their heart and with hats removed.

While it is often appropriate to sing along, remaining seated or talking during the national anthem is typically considered disrespectful, especially if members of the military or veterans are present. Americans take great pride in the national anthem, and we hope all exchange visitors will have an opportunity to learn the words and sing along with the anthem at some point during their programs. National Anthem Image courtesy of Dave Hogg Although Francis Scott Key’s original poem had four stanzas, only the first stanza is sung today: O 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 rockets' 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? Is the Star-Spangled Banner similar to your home country’s national anthem? How is the national anthem treated in your home country? Tell us about it in the comments!

More information: The Star-Spangled Banner | Star Spangled Banner Historical Trail Chesapeake at War The Star-Spangled Banner As the bombardment ceased on the morning of September 14, 1814, three Americans aboard a truce ship strained to see Fort McHenry. They had been watching the Battle for Baltimore from the Patapsco River, where they were anchored with the British fleet. US agent for the exchange of American prisoners John Stuart Skinner and Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key had negotiated the release of physician William Beanes, captured by the British following an incident in Upper Marlboro. Their business was finished, but the Americans were not allowed to leave the fleet until after the attack on Baltimore was over, lest they reveal British plans. So it was that Key and his fellow Americans were at the center of the Battle for Baltimore. In the eerie silence that followed the 25-hour bombardment, they glimpsed the American flag flying over the fort, signaling that Fort McHenry had held. With great relief they watched as enemy ships withdrew. The Song Inspired by the sight, Key began writing new lyrics for a familiar tune.

Over the next few days, he perfected the four verses of “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” set to the tune of the 1780 English gentlemen's drinking song “Anacreon in Heaven.” “By Dawn’s Early Light,” a 1912 romanticized painting by Percy Moran, depicts Francis Scott Key observing the American flag flying over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, signaling that the Americans had withstood the British attack. Library of Congress Key showed his composition to his brother-in-law Joseph Nicholson, who took it to the Baltimore American newspaper. First published in a handbill on September 17, the lyrics soon appeared in newspapers all along the eastern seaboard. Key’s lyrics grew in popularity, and the song was eventually re-titled “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 1931, it became the official national anthem of the United States of America. The Flag The flag that inspired Key’s lyrics also became a powerful symbol of American patriotism. Commissioned by Major George Armistead in 1813 for the garrison at Fort McHenry, the giant flag had been made over six weeks by Baltimorean Mary Pickersgill and her helpers. At 30 ft.

by 42 ft. the flag was too big for Pickersgill’s house, so the final assembly was done on the floor of a nearby brewery. After the firing ceased on the morning of September 14, the fort’s storm flag was lowered and replaced by the large garrison flag. The original garrison flag that became known as the Star-Spangled Banner, remained in the Armistead family for 90 years. It is now part of a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History , Smithsonian Institution, in the nation’s capital. Defence Of Fort Mchenry (Stars And Stripes Forever) Poem by Francis Scott Key - Poem Hunter Defence Of Fort Mchenry (Stars And Stripes Forever) Poem by Francis Scott Key - Poem Hunter Defence Of Fort Mchenry (Stars And Stripes Forever) - Poem by Francis Scott Key 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 rockets' 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 on 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 havock 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 foot-steps' 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. September 16, 1814: Francis Scott Key and the Star-Spangled Banner - The History Reader Home › Modern History › September 16, 1814: Francis Scott Key and the Star-Spangled Banner September 16, 1814: Francis Scott Key and the Star-Spangled Banner Posted on March 3, 2011 by Brittany Leddy — No Comments ↓ By Marc Leepson The man who named that flag, Francis Scott Key, witnessed the Battle of Baltimore aboard a sixty-foot sloop in the harbor. How Key found himself in the harbor while the battle raged is an intriguing and not widely known story.

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at his affluent family’s estate called Terra Rubra in Frederick County in western Maryland. His great grandfather, Philip Key, had come to Maryland from England in the early 1720s. When he was ten years old, Key went to Annapolis to attend St. John’s College. He graduated from that prestigious small liberal arts institution in 1796, then studied law under Judge J. T. Chase in Annapolis. Francis Scott Key began practicing law in 1801 in Frederick, Maryland. His partner was Roger B. Taney, who married Key’s sister Anne in 1806. Taney went on in 1836 to become the fifth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Shortly after Key married Mary Tayloe Lloyd in Annapolis 1802, he moved to the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C, to practice law with his uncle, Philip Barton Key. Francis Scott Key became one of the city’s most prominent attorneys, eventually serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and arguing many cases before the U.S.

Supreme Court. An amateur poet, Key also was a very religious man who was active in the Episcopal Church. He died in Baltimore on January 11, 1843. The circumstance that led to Key’s ringside seat at the Battle of Baltimore took place in the immediate aftermath of the British sacking of Washington. Before all of the British troops made their way aboard ships bound for Baltimore, a group of them raided several farms in Maryland outside Washington. Dr. William Beanes, a prominent Upper Marlboro physician and a friend of Key, organized opposition to the renegade British troops. After Beanes’s men captured some of the pillaging British troops, he and several other Americans were arrested and taken prisoner by the British. A prisoner exchange followed, and everyone but Dr. Beanes was released. He was taken away in the Tonnant, Admiral Cochrane’s flagship, as the British sailed toward Baltimore. Intermediaries contacted Key to ask him to arrange for Dr. Beanes’s release. Key secured permission to negotiate the release from President Madison and Gen. John Mason, who was in charge of matters relating to military prisoners during the War of 1812.

Key’s orders were to go to Baltimore and rendezvous with U.S. Army colonel John S. Skinner, who had dealt with British rear admiral George Cockburn on prisoner exchanges and other issues in that city. Key and Skinner met in Baltimore on September 4. The next day they sailed on a sixty-foot sloop carrying a truce flag in search of the British Fleet. They met up with the Tonnant and were welcomed aboard by General Ross and Admiral Cochrane. Key convinced the British commanders that Dr. Beanes was a civilian noncombatant. After what has been described as a cordial dinner on board the ship, the British agreed to Dr. Beanes’s release. But there was a condition. Key, Skinner, and Beanes were not permitted to return to Washington until after the British attack on Baltimore. The three men were first escorted to a British frigate, which towed their sloop toward Baltimore. On September 10, Key, Skinner, and Beanes were allowed to return to their vessel, accompanied by British marine guards.

They set anchor in Baltimore harbor, about eight miles from Fort McHenry, and spent the next four days there, -witnessing the fighting, including the relentless barrage during the stormy night of September 13—14. It was an emotion-laden experience. Key expressed his high feelings as the British Fleet sailed away from Fort McHenry by writing a poem, which he began to compose on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. Key finished the four verses of the poem either while sailing back to shore or at a hotel—accounts differ — on September 16. The next day he presented the verses to his brother in law, Judge Joseph Hopper Nicholson, the chief justice of the Baltimore District of the Maryland Court of Appeals. Hopper had commanded the Maryland Volunteer Artillery’s First Regiment, known as the “Baltimore Fencibles,” at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. Either Nicholson, his wife, Key, or Skinner took the poem to a printer, most likely Benjamin Edes, who also was a veteran of that battle, having commanded a Maryland militia company at the Battle of North Point.

Edes owned and operated a print shop on the corner of Baltimore and Gay Street, from which copies of Key’s poem, bearing the title “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” were printed on handbills or broadsheets and distributed throughout the city. The text appeared in the daily afternoon newspaper, the Baltimore Patriot, and the Evening Advertiser on September 20. The newspaper and broadsheets included a short introduction, probably written by Judge Nicholson. “The following beautiful and animating effusion, which is destined long to outlast the occasion, and outlive the impulse, which produced it, had already been extensively circulated,” the introduction said.

“In our first renewal of publication we rejoice in an opportunity to enliven the sketch of an exploit so illustrious, with strains which so fitly celebrate it.” The broadsheet and the newspaper went on to describe the “circumstances” under which the “song was composed.” Key, who was described only as a “gentleman” and was not named, “was compelled to witness the bombardment of Fort M’Henry, which the Admiral [Cochrane] had boasted that he would carry in a few hours, and that the city must fall.” Key “watched the flag at the Fort through the whole day with an anxiety that can better be felt than described, until the night prevented him from seeing it. In the night he watched the Bomb-Shells, and at the early dawn his eye was again greeted by the proudly-waving flag of his country.” The article indicated that the song was meant to be sung to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven,” an English song, popular in pubs, that was composed by John Stafford Smith around 1775 and was well known in the United States.

The tune was the theme song of the Anacreontic Society of London, a gentlemen’s club that met periodically to listen to musical performances, dine, and sing songs. It was named after Anacreon, the ancient Greek poet known primarily for his verses in praise of love, wine, and revelry. Several similar organizations were formed in the United States, including the Columbian Anacreontic Society in New York, which had begun in 1795, and the Anacreontic Society of Baltimore, which would start in 1820. On September 21, 1814, the Baltimore American published the song, and it soon became known, if not popular, throughout the nation. It was first performed publicly on October 19, 1814, in Baltimore at the Holliday Street Theatre, popularly known as “Old Drury,” after the performance of a play. The song became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” after it was published for the first time in sheet music form by Carr’s Music Store in Baltimore in November.

The title on the sheet music reads, “THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER,” below which are the words “A PATRIOTIC SONG” and “Air, Anacreon in Heaven.” The song was subsequently reproduced widely in newspapers and magazines and soon appeared in sheet music and in songbooks throughout the nation. Fifty-seven years later “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the unofficial National Anthem of the North soon after the start of the Civil War. The widespread use of the song beginning in 1861 marked the first time that the nation widely and significantly embraced the flag as a symbol of American patriotism. In the decades following the war the song grew in popularity nationwide. The United States Naval Academy adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its anthem in 1889, the same year in which navy bases and ships started playing it when the flag was raised each day at morning colors. The U.S. Marine Band began playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at its public performances in 1890. The U.S. Army adopted the song for retiring the colors in 1895, and the U.S.

Military Academy at West Point took the song as its official anthem in 1903. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, the American public for the first time began standing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 1916, just prior to America’s entry into World War I, Pres. Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order calling for the song to be played at military and naval occasions. In 1917 the army and navy officially named “The Star-Spangled Banner” as “the National Anthem of the United States” for all military ceremonies. There is anecdotal evidence that “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played at various sporting events, primarily baseball games, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first documented performance of the song being performed at a sporting event came during World War I at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The date was September 5, 1918; the occasion, the first game of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. The Cubs were using Comiskey Park, the home of the White Sox, because their home, Wrigley Field (then called Weeghman Park), was deemed too small.

The historic event took place during the seventh-inning stretch. As the Cubs band played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the players and the nineteen-thousand-plus spectators stood, took off their hats, and sang along — much as they do today at professional and collegiate sporting contests. At Boston’s Fenway Park on September 9 in the fourth game of the Series, the National Anthem was played before the first pitch. The Red Sox, led by pitching star Babe Ruth, prevailed in that post-season contest—and did not win another World Series until 2004. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before the opening-day game and each World Series game the following season, 1919, but not at regular season games. That didn’t take place until 1942, during World War II. Since then the National Anthem has been played before virtually every professional — and many collegiate and high school — baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and soccer contests in this country. Members of Congress started introducing legislation to proclaim “The Star-Spangled Banner” the National Anthem of the United States around 1910. More than forty bills and resolutions were considered in Congress over the next two decades.

On January 30, 1913, for example, Rep. Jefferson Levy, a New York Democrat, and the owner of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, introduced such a joint resolution in the House. That measure, as -was the case with dozens of other pieces of similar legislation, went nowhere. The legislation did not succeed for several reasons. First, some believed that it was inappropriate for the nation to adopt as its National Anthem a song derived from an English drinking tune—especially after January 19, 1920, when Prohibition went into effect. Others objected to “The Star-Spangled Banner” because the music was not written by an American. Another objection had to do with the difficulty of singing the tune, which has a very wide range of notes. There also were arguments that Key’s words were directed at a military enemy, Great Britain, that had become a close American ally. And some believed that the song was only appropriate as a martial air and not in times of peace. ” ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ suggests that patriotism is associated with killing and being killed, with great noise and clamor, with intense hatreds and fury and violence,” Clyde R.

Miller, an administrator at Columbia University’s Teachers College, said in 1930. “Patriotism may on very rare occasions involve all of these, but not everyday life.” There also was sentiment to designate other patriotic songs as the National Anthem. A popular favorite was “America the Beautiful,” which Katharine Lee Bates, an instructor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, wrote after climbing Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1893. The words to that song were first published as a poem in 1895. The lyrics were revised twice, in 1904 and in 1913. Until 1910 the poem was sung to many different tunes, including “Auld Lang Syne.” In 1910 Bates’s words were put together with the tune we know today, “Materna,” which was composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882. The other song most frequently suggested for the National Anthem was the traditional folk tune “Yankee Doodle,” which was written in the late 1760s.

A long lobbying effort by patriotic and veterans groups led by the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars -won the day on behalf of Key’s song. The VFW had been on record as early as 1917 favoring the “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the National Anthem. In December 1926 the group launched a lobbying campaign in support of a “Star-Spangled Banner” National Anthem bill pending in the House of Representatives. “There is a powerful and well-financed propaganda emanating from pacifist sources to replace Francis Scott Key’s inspiring words with something more flowery and meaningless,” said Herman R. La Tourette, patriotic instructor for the VFW’s Department of New York, following a meeting in which the group asked the public to write to members of Congress urging them to support the bill. That bill died in Congress, but the VFW continuing lobbying for subsequent similar legislation during the next four years. Representatives of more than sixty veterans and patriotic groups held a conference in Washington on January 30, 1930, to make a big push for another “Star-Spangled Banner” bill that had been introduced by Rep. J.

Charles Linthicum, a Maryland Democrat who represented the congressional district in Baltimore that included Fort McHenry. The following day the Veterans of Foreign Wars presented the House Judiciary Committee with a petition—which VFW commander in chief Walter I. Joyce called “fifty miles of names’ —containing some five million signatures urging the adoption of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the National Anthem. Sopranos Elsie Jorss-Reilley of Washington and Grace Evelyn Boudlin of Baltimore, backed by the U.S. Navy Band, performed the song for the committee that day “to refute,” the New York Times said, “the argument that it is pitched too high for popular singing.” The hearing room was packed with members of women’s patriotic organizations decked out in what the Times, in a front-page article, described as “broad bands of red, white and blue.” The House approved the bill on April 21, 1930. The Senate voted for it unanimously on March 3, 1931, and on that same day Pres. Herbert Hoover signed into law a measure officially designating “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the National Anthem of the United States.

*** No flag sewn by Betsy Ross is known to exist today. But the flag that inspired the National Anthem, the flag known as the Star-Spangled Banner, today resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington. There is, moreover, indisputable evidence showing that Mary Young Pickersgill of Baltimore was the creator of that enormous and enormously influential, thirty-by forty-two-foot, fifteen-star, fifteen-stripe flag. “She sewed the Star-Spangled Banner flag,” said Sally Johnston, executive director of The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore. “We have the original receipt for the flag in our collection.” That receipt, dated October 27, 1813, was given to Mary Pickersgill and her niece Eliza Young by the U.S. Army for making “1 American Ensign, 30 by 42 feet, first quality Bunting” and for another flag “17 by 25 feet.” The army paid $405.90 for the larger flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, and $168.54 for the smaller one, which also flew at Fort McHenry.

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.

Question: The lyrics of which song were inspired by the successful American defence of Fort McHenry in September 1814?
Answer: The Star-Spangled Banner