The Star Spangled Banner
The History
The Star-spangled banner, the National Anthem of the United States of
America is a poem inspired by the Battle of Baltimore, fought on September
12-14, 1814 during the War of 1812.
Dr. William Beanes, an elderly and respected
physician, was arrested for unfriendly acts toward the
British soldiers during the British campaign against Washington, D.C. A prominent lawyer and friend of Dr.
Beanes by the name of Francis Scott Key, was sent by President James Madison to
secure his release. The British agreed to release Beanes, but since an attack on
Baltimore was imminent, no one was allowed to go ashore.
There was a battle with the British on September 12 and the British were unable to capture Baltimore.
They tried a naval attack as the second part of their attack. The main defense of Baltimore harbor was Fort McHenry. For 25 hours the British
fleet fired rockets and bombs at the fort. The fort withstood the
bombardment and did not surrender. The British realized they could not take
Baltimore without heavy casualties and since they were not willing to pay this
price, they departed from Baltimore.
Francis Scott Key was down river watching the
bombardment and was inspired to
write a poem that told the story of the battle. When he reached Baltimore he
finished the poem.
The song slowly grew in popularity and was used by both sides
during the Civil war. Later, it was very popular with the military and was used as an "unofficial" national anthem. During World War I,
the song became so widely accepted that a drive resulted in the Congress making
it the National Anthem in 1931.
The original manuscript is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society in
Baltimore. Fort McHenry still stands and it is part of the National Park
Service. The fort is the only site to have both a national monument and historic
shrine designation.
The Anthem
The Defense of Fort McHenry
by Francis Scott Key
20 September 1814
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the 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, 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'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 wiped 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.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with 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 it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
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