“The Star‑Spangled Banner” is America’s national anthem, the official song in praise of our country. Its four verses were written by a 35‑year‑old lawyer, Francis Scott Key, during the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States. America had entered the war because of British interference with American sailors and shipping. Great Britain was fighting a war against Napoleon at the same time.

In the spring of 1814, Napoleon had given up his throne and was exiled. This enabled Britain to send thousands of battle‑hardened veterans to America. British troops occupied and burned part of Washington, D.C., in August, but American forces successfully warded off a British land and sea invasion of the port city of Baltimore in September. The American defense of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry was what inspired the poem that would later become the national anthem of the United States.

On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key traveled with Colonel John Skinner under a flag of truce to the British fleet that was anchored in Chesapeake Bay off the shore of Baltimore. Key was going to negotiate the release of a civilian prisoner of war, Dr. William Beanes, a well‑known physician who had been captured by the British. Beanes was being held prisoner on the British ship HMS Surprise. The HMS Surprise was a genuine Royal Navy war frigate, although its history was quite different than that portrayed in Patrick O’Brian’s novels on which the movie “Master and Commander” is based.

Soon after Key and Skinner had boarded the Surprise, the fleet received orders to attack Fort McHenry, which guarded Baltimore. Although the British agreed to release the doctor, the three men were not allowed to leave the ship until after the battle. The British did not want the Americans to report back on the position and strength of the British fleet. Key stood on the deck of the British ship and helplessly watched Fort McHenry being bombarded with rockets and mortar shells for hour after hour through the night.

Just before dawn the firing stopped, and Key wondered whether the Americans had surrendered. Then at daybreak on September 14, Key was able to see the stars and stripes of the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry. This sight inspired Key to write the first few lines of “The Defense of Fort McHenry” on the back of a letter that was in his pocket. Later in the morning, after rowing back to shore, he added more verses describing his feelings as he watched the attack. Within a week, many newspapers had printed Key’s poem.

The poem was renamed “The Star‑Spangled Banner” and made into a song using the music of “To Anaceron in Heaven,” an English ballad that had been written around 1775 and was a popular drinking tune. (Anaceron was a Greek poet famed for satires and lyrics celebrating love and wine.) By the 1890s, the Army and Navy had adopted the “The Star‑Spangled Banner” as their official song, and it was treated as a national anthem for nearly a hundred years before being officially adopted by Congress. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed the bill formally making “The Star‑Spangled Banner” our national anthem.

At the time Francis Scott Key wrote his poem, the American flag had 15 stripes and 15 stars. The oversized flag that Key saw waving over Fort McHenry is undergoing restoration at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It is in extremely fragile condition, and is expected to be finished this year. Key’s original poem is now part of the Maryland Historical Society’s permanent collection.

“The Star‑Spangled Banner” was first played at a World Series of baseball in 1917 when the band started an impromptu performance of the song in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The players and spectators stood at attention, took off their hats, and sang–giving rise to a tradition that is still repeated at baseball games today.

Surprisingly, a recent Harris poll found that two out of three American adults don’t know all of the words to “The Star‑Spangled Banner,” and many don’t even know which song is our national anthem or why it was written. Those who do know the words to the national anthem say they learned “The Star‑Spangled Banner” and other patriotic music at school. Do you think some schools are teaching too much multi‑culturalism and not enough American heritage? How well do you know “The Star‑Spangled Banner?”

Books

“By the Dawn’s Early Light: The Story of the Star‑Spangled Banner,” by Steven Kroll (New York: Scholastic, 1994), is a picture book that tells the story of the writing of the national anthem.

“The Star‑Spangled Banner,” illustrated by Peter Spier (New York: Bantam Doubleday, 1973), contains the text of the first verse, music and guitar chords, historical information, and maps.

“The Star‑Spangled Banner” (New York: Scholastic, 2002) includes the words of the first verse of the anthem along with colorful patriotic photographs.

Web sites

http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org (The National Association for Music Education has launched the “The National Anthem Project,” a campaign set on re‑teaching America “The Star‑Spangled Banner.”)

http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ssb (The Smithsonian Institution’s “Star‑Spangled Banner” Web site tells all about the flag at Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key.)

http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/starflag.htm (“Star‑Spangled Banner” photo, history, and background information from Encyclopedia Smithsonian.)

http://www.bookrags.com/history/americanhistory/national‑anthem‑aaw‑03/ (National anthem history summary.)

http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anthem.html (Listen to the music, read the lyrics, and view the score of “The Star‑Spangled Banner.” Includes Fort McHenry history and visitor information.)

http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm065.html (Images of an original manuscript of Francis Scott Key’s work, from the Library of Congress.)

http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/flag/1bfc_anthem.html (The story of the Battle of Baltimore and our national anthem, with printable text of all four verses.)

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Spangled_Banner (“The Star‑Spangled Banner,” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)