The Star Spangled Banner was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. You may know this, but do you know why the young lawyer was inspired to write such a piece? And did he know that one day the poem he wrote would become our National Anthem?
It was 1814. America was at war with Great Britain, and in Baltimore preparations were being made for the attack. Wagons bumped along the streets towards Ft. McHenry, where the guards were waiting for supplies. Meanwhile, a small boat slipped out of the Baltimore harbor. There was no name or number assigned to it, and it flew a white flag.
The young lawyer, Francis Scott Key, who was aboard the boat with his companion, John Skinner, had been sent by President James Madison to beg the freedom of a certain Dr. William Beanes, a prisoner aboard a British warship and a good friend of Francis Key.
Days later, and miles down the Chesapeake Bay, Key and his companion saw the rows of British ships.
The little boat sailed right up to the admiral's flagship. After they saw the white flag (a sign of peace), the British soldiers lowered a ladder for the men to come aboard. Key begged the officers to release Dr. Beanes, but was coldly refused. Only after he showed them letters from wounded British soldiers, telling how kindly Dr. Beanes had treated them, did the British relent.
But, the British officials gave release on one condition. They would not release Dr. Beanes, Key, or John Skinner until after their attack on Baltimore. They could not risk the Americans going back and telling their companions what they had seen, so the American army could be better prepared. Accordingly, the group was put on a smaller ship, called the Surprise.
Key and his companions looked helplessly as their little boat was tied down. There was no way for them to escape and warn Baltimore now.
Slowly, they made their way up the Chesapeake Bay, towards Ft. McHenry.
Six hard days later, they saw a flag that was flying high over Ft. McHenry. Little did Key know that this very flag would mean so much more to him in just a few days later.
On the morning of September 12th, the British soldiers were sent ashore, and before dawn of the next morning, the battle began. By the time the evening came, the battle was as loud as ever, and it was to last far into the night. It was dark and loud and the burning smell of gunpowder filled the air. It went on all through the night.
Then, the noise stopped. Everything was silent. Ideas rushed into Key's mind.
Had Baltimore won the battle? Or did the British surrender? Or, worst of all, perhaps the American troops had lost the battle?
Slowly but surely, the dawn came. The little group aboard the Surprise saw the flag standing tall where it was just a few days before. It was September 14th. The American troops had won the battle.
Besides being a lawyer, Key was also an amateur poet. He had written may poems before, but the one he was about to write was surely the greatest of all.
In those quiet hours of waiting, words filled his head. Now, by the dawn's early light, he pulled an old envelope from his pocket and started writing. He was so rapped up in what he was writing, that he didn't even notice the British soldiers returning to the ships. After the last of the troops had returned, the little boat was returned to its owners and the little company set out on the 5 mile trip back to Baltimore.
As soon as they had reached Baltimore, they went at once to the inn. They were exhausted from spending the whole night without sleep, and Key's companions went straight to sleep. Key, however, found ink and paper and arranged the words he had written on the envelope until they sounded how he wanted them to. Then he went to sleep as the others had done.
The Next Day...
The next day, Key showed the poem to his brother-in-law, Judge J. H. Nicholson.
The judge was so impressed with the writing that he took it to the printing office of the newspaper, Baltimore America. He told them to call it, "The Defense of Ft. McHenry," since Key never gave the song a name.
The song was an instant hit. Soldiers coming home from the war read it. Their wives sang it. Key didn't wait to see what people thought of it. He took a few copies with him, and headed for home.
After being published by the Baltimore newspaper, and being copied by other newspapers from different towns, the title was changed to "The Star Spangled Banner." Key was pleased to hear it sung so often, and didn't mind his name seldom appeared as the author when it was printed in songbooks. He didn't think it's popularity would last.
He would have been surprised if he knew that it was sung as much as America during the Civil War.
In 1898, a request made by Admiral Dewey was granted, allowing The Star Spangled Banner to be used on all ceremonial occasions in the United States Navy, and in 1916, President Wilson made it the official song for all military ceremonies.
On March 3rd, 1931, after many objections and pleas to make The Star Spangled Banner the United States national anthem, President Hoover signed the document making it our official national anthem.
Credits
Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of The Star Spangled Banner
The Star Spangled Banner (lyrics)
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last gleaming?
Who’s broad stripes and bright stars,
Through the perilous fight,
O’re the ramparts we watch, 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’re 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 breeze, o're the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now 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're 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 washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From terror of flight, or gloom of the grave:
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O're the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with the victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O're the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Comments