The Star-Spangled Banner was inspired by the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Specifically, American lawyer Francis Scott Key was moved to write the lyrics after witnessing the fierce 25-hour British naval bombardment of Fort McHenry on September 13–14, 1814.
It was against this backdrop that “The Star-Spangled Banner” got its words. On September 13, 1814, Key and a U.S. official rowed over to a British warship at the mouth of the Patapsco River outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Their mission was to seek the release of an American citizen.
On August 28, 1814, William Beanes, a physician who resided in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was arrested by British forces in his home after the Burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria. A friend of Key’s, Beanes was accused of aiding the detention of several British Army stragglers who were ransacking local homesteads in search of food.
The meeting with the British officers went well, and they even dined together. But when it came time for Key and his companions to paddle home, their hosts said hold your rowboats. The Americans had seen too much. British ships were moving into position to blast the daylights out of Fort McHenry, about eight miles away. Once they captured the fort, British troops would then raid the city, like they had in Washington. The British could not let Key and the others report on what they had seen.
Meanwhile, the Americans had very good seats for the fireworks. British ships let loose with their cannon as night fell. Hour after hour, all night long, they lobbed rockets and shells at the fort, more than 1,500 ka-booms in all.
During the rainy day and through the night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” (17 by 25 feet (5.2 by 7.6 m)) continued to fly, but once the bomb and Congreve rocket[9] barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. On the morning of September 14, the storm flag had been lowered and the large garrison flag (30 by 42 feet (9.1 by 12.8 m)) had been raised.
During the bombardment, HMS Erebus provided the “rockets’ red glare”, while the heavy-mortar bomb ships HMS Terror, Volcano, Devastation, Meteor and Aetna provided the “bombs bursting in air”. Around 1,500 to 1,800 bomb shells and over 700 rockets were fired at the fort but with minimal casualties and damage being done.
As the British ships sailed away, ammunition depleted, they knew then they would never defeat the United States of America.
Key went on to write his poem relating the bombardment and later turned it into the song as we know it now.
Key’s poem/song became a big hit almost immediately. Within a week of the battle, it was printed up under the title of “Defence of Fort McHenry.” Newspapers up and down the U.S. included the heroic verses in their pages. But a music printer soon took the liberty of changing the title to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That, of course, was the name that stuck.
The song remained popular throughout the 1800s and was often played at military ceremonies. But it was not yet the national anthem. That had to wait until 1931, when Congress passed the bill making it so, and President Herbert Hoover signed it into law. Americans have been standing up and singing it, at least the first five words, ever since.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” has four verses, although only the first verse is commonly performed.
O 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 perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
God Bless America and all our veterans and first responders and especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
And now you know the rest of the story!
Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner