O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, Performance: Whitney Houston with The Florida Orchestra, conducted by Jahja Ling (1991) ![]() ![]() “The Star-Spangled Banner” Composer: John Stafford Smith 1. The text of its earliest surviving draft appears below, transcribed from his handwritten manuscript. Key began his poem onboard the ship and finished it shortly after his release from captivity. Famously, he knew that the American forces had emerged victorious when he saw their flag flying over Fort McHenry in the morning light on September 14, 1814. Key subsequently witnessed the nighttime battle from aboard a British ship. Although Key and his compatriots were successful in their mission, they were held captive after overhearing British officers plan an attack on the city of Baltimore. During the War of 1812, Key travelled with a delegation to the British flagship HMS Tonnant to negotiate a prisoner exchange. The tune is several decades older than the text, but our story will begin with the famous poem by Francis Scott Key (1779–1843). United States of America: “The Star-Spangled Banner”Īs is the case with almost every national anthem, the words and the tune to “The Star-Spangled Banner”1 were created by different people at different times. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.įrancis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843.\) People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. Their next target was Baltimore.Īfter one of Key’s friends, Dr. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. ![]() On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”įrancis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. ![]() On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “ The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort M'Henry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812.
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