Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" to celebrate an American victory and the survival of the U.S. flag during a crucial battle of the war of 1812. Detained on a British ship, he watched Fort McHenry endure a 25-hour bombardment. Seeing the American flag still waving at dawn deeply moved him. [1, 2, 3]
Here are the details of the historical event:
- The Mission: In September 1814, Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet, boarded a British truce ship to negotiate the release of an American prisoner, Dr. William Beanes. [1, 2]
- The Detainment: The British agreed to the release but detained Key and his companions aboard the ship to prevent them from leaking tactical secrets, as the British were about to launch an attack on Baltimore. [1]
- The Bombardment: From the deck of his ship, Key witnessed the British Royal Navy launch a 25-hour barrage of bombs and rockets at Fort McHenry. [1, 2]
- The Flag at Dawn: Overnight, the shelling slowed down, and the Americans feared the fort had surrendered. In the early light of dawn, Key looked out and saw a large American flag still flying above the fort, indicating the fort had successfully held. [1, 2]
- The Song: Overcome with pride and relief, Key immediately began writing a poem on the back of a letter he was carrying. He later finished the poem in a Baltimore hotel room, which was originally titled "Defence of Fort M'Henry". It was soon paired with the melody of a popular English drinking song, adopted into a patriotic tune, and eventually made the official U.S. national anthem in 1931. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Here is a wonderful link from the Kennedy Center.
I cannot print it here because it comes out white on white! But do go to the above link. It has some great pictures as well as text and is well worth your time! You can click on the footnote numbers to see the Wikipedia sources.
Here is a portrait of Francis Scott Key:
