Key, Francis Scott The lines are from "Defence of Fort McHenry," a song composed on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812. The song is often referred to as "The Star-Spangled Banner."
After Key died in 1843, his wife added the words "oh what a glorious sight" at the end of the first stanza. A new version of the song was then published in 1844 with these additional words.
The original melody is based on a Scottish folk song called "Flower of Corsica." English composer William Billings adapted this music for use as the march tune for the First Regiment Maryland Infantry when that state joined the Union in 1798. The song was later adopted as the official march of the United States Marine Corps.
Francis Scott Key writes a poem on September 14, 1814 that is eventually adapted to music and becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," in 1931. The poem, originally titled "The Defense of Fort M'Henry," was written after Key watched the British bombardment of the Maryland fort during the War of 1812. In the poem, he imagines what it would be like to be aboard a British warship during this attack.
Key did not intend for the poem to be set to music but instead wanted it to be used as propaganda by the American government to encourage more people to join the war effort. However, his suggestion was adopted by William D. Haydn for use as an army song during peacetime conditions. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was first performed at a public event on March 5, 1815, at Francis Scott Key's request so he could better explain its importance as a symbol of America's freedom.
There are several versions of how Key came up with the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner." Some say they were inspired by an English ballad about the 16th century battle between England and Spain called "Raglan's Ride"; others claim he took them from Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" which also deals with the War of 1812. What is known for sure is that Key had no intention of creating a patriotic song when he wrote it.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key writes a poem that is subsequently adapted to music and becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," in 1931. He based its lyrics on English translations of notes left by an American prisoner of war held by the British.
Key was a lawyer from Baltimore, Maryland. At the time of the attack on Fort McHenry, he was in Washington, D.C., where he had been appointed as a temporary judge for the District of Columbia. In October 1814, President James Madison appointed Key to be the U.S. attorney for the district of Maryland. He served in this position until his death in 1826 at the age of 44. During his tenure, Key also wrote several other poems that are still used today by Americans living throughout the world.
Francis Scott Key wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" on September 14, 1814, after watching the enormous nighttime British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.... The song was adopted as our national anthem in 1931.
Key's father was a doctor at the fort and knew some of its officers. His mother was from a wealthy family in Baltimore and they lived near the Key family home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Francis Scott Key returned to Baltimore after witnessing the battle, he wrote a poem about it. He then set out with another man to find a lawyer to help him get compensation from the government for the use of his poem.
The lawyer they found told them that because there was no money in the federal treasury, there could be no compensation. Disappointed, the men left but soon heard that the war had ended. They went back to see if anything could be done about getting paid for their poem but found out that the government didn't have any funds to pay poets for poems written about events happening during a war. At this point, Key's friend suggested that since there was no one else around, they might as well keep writing songs about events during wars until someone pays us for something.
Of fact, the national anthem originated as a poem penned in September 1814 by Francis Scott Key after witnessing the British attack of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. (which ran until early 1815). The poem was set to music written by Joseph Philbrick Hume and adopted by the Congress at its first session on March 16, 1791.
Key's original poem was called "The Star-Spangled Banner." The first two stanzas read as follows:
"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 night did shine?"
"The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the gloom that our flag was still there; Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
On February 13, 1901, President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York while attending the Pan-American Exposition. He died eight days later on February 21. During the ceremony honoring the late president, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge introduced a resolution proposing that the nation adopt the song "Dawning of Day" as its new national anthem.
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