Wiregrass Seniors Magazine July 2018 JULY ISSUE | Page 9

The Star-Spangled Banner
WiregrassSeniorsMagazine.com
Page 9
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is the national anthem
of the United States. By the time the song officially
became the country’s anthem in 1931, it had been
one of America’s most popular patriotic tunes for
more than a century. The anthem’s history began the
morning of September 14, 1814, when an attorney
and amateur poet named Francis Scott Key watched
U.S. soldiers—who were under bombardment from
British naval forces during the War of 1812—raise
a large American flag over Fort McHenry in Balti-
more, Maryland.
Background: War of 1812
Simmering anger at Britain for interfering in Ameri-
can trade, impressing U.S. sailors into the Royal
Navy and standing in the way of westward expan-
sion led the United States to declare war in June
1812.
With British forces distracted by the country’s ongo-
ing war with France, the United States scored some
encouraging early victories in the War of 1812. But
after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in
April 1814, the British turned their full atte ntion to
the war in North America.
That August, British troops invaded Washington,
D.C. and set fire to the White House, the Capitol
and other government buildings. The Royal Navy then
trained its sights on the key seaport of Baltimore,
Maryland.
On September 13, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort
McHenry withstood some 25 hours of British bom-
bardment. Early the next morning, they hoisted a gi-
gantic U.S. flag over the fort, marking a crucial vic-
tory and a turning point in what would be considered
a second war of American independence.
Francis Scott Key
A Maryland-born attorney with a thriving practice in
Washington, D.C., Francis Scott Key watched the
bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship anchored
in Baltimore’s harbor.
Key had been helping to negotiate the release of an
American civilian, Dr. William Beanes, who had
been captured in an earlier battle. As a condition of
the release, the British ordered the Americans not
to return to shore during the attack on Baltimore.
Who Wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”?
Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Ban-
ner” and its initial verse on the back side of a letter
while watching the large American flag waving over
the fort that morning. Back in Baltimore, he contin-
ued working until he had completed four verses (only
one of which is commonly known today).
After a local printer issued the song, originally called
“Defence of Fort M’Henry,” two Baltimore newspa-
pers printed it, and it spread quickly to various cit-
ies along the East Coast.
By November 1812, Key’s composition had ap-
peared in print for the first time under the name “The
Star-Spangled Banner.”
From Drinking Song to American Anthem
Ironically, the melody Key assigned to accompany
the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a popu-
lar English drinking song called “To Anacreon in
Heaven.”
Written around 1775 by John Stafford Smith, the
song honored the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, a
lover of wine. It was originally performed at a Lon-
don gentleman’s music club called the Anacreontic
Society.