The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics were written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland by British ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. It became well known as a patriotic song to the tune of a popular English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." While it was recognized for official use by the United States Navy (1889) and by the White House (1916), it was made the national anthem by a Congressional resolution on March 3, 1931. Although the song has four verses, only the first is commonly sung today.

History

Early history

On September 3, 1814, Key and John S. Skinner of Baltimore, Maryland, an American prisoner exchange agent, set sail from Baltimore aboard the sloop HMS Minden flying a flag of truce approved by James Madison. Their goal was to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, the elderly and popular town physician of Upper Marlboro, a friend of Key's who had been captured in Washington, DC and had been accused of harboring British deserters. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant on September 7 and spoke with General Robert Ross and Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner, while they also discussed war plans. In the beginning, Ross and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and other Americans for their kind treatment.

Related Topics:
September 3 - 1814 - Sloop - HMS ''Minden'' - Flag of truce - James Madison - Upper Marlboro - Washington, DC - Flagship - September 7

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Because Key and Skinner had heard much of the preparations for the Baltimore attack, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard HMS Surprise, and later back onto the Minden sloop, waiting behind the British fleet. On September 13, at 7 a.m., the fighting began, continuing for 25 hours of British bombardment all through the night until September 14 while the British fleet attacked the fort during the Battle of Baltimore. During the night, Key witnessed the battle, and was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the enormous American flag still standing in the midst of the battle. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, is today on display in the National Museum of American History, a part of the Smithsonian Institution. This flag was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.

Related Topics:
September 13 - September 14 - American flag - National Museum of American History - Smithsonian Institution - Amelia Fowler

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The next day, Key wrote a poem aboard the ship on the back of a letter he had in his pocket, continuing to write during the sail. After being released with Skinner in Baltimore at twilight on September 16, Key finished the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel where he was staying, entitling it "Defence of Fort McHenry."

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Key gave his poem to his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph H. Nicholson, who recognized that the poem fit the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," a popular melody dating from the mid-1760s, written in London by John Stafford Smith. Nicholson took the poem to a printer. These broadside copies, the song's first known printing, were printed anonymously in Baltimore on September 17 — of these, two known copies still exist.

Related Topics:
1760s - London - John Stafford Smith - Broadside - September 17

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On September 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven." The song instantly became popular, with 17 newspapers from Georgia to New Hampshire printing it. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner." The song quickly became popular, and the first public performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" took place in October, when Baltimore actor Ferdinand Durang sang the song at Captain McCauley's tavern.

Related Topics:
September 20 - Georgia - New Hampshire - Tavern

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Gaining popularity and official status

The song gained popularity throughout the 19th century. On July 26, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order #374, making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.

Related Topics:
19th century - Secretary of the Navy - Benjamin F. Tracy

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In 1916, Woodrow Wilson ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. Two years later, in 1918, the song was first played at a baseball game; in the World Series, the band started an impromptu performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the seventh-inning stretch. The players and spectators stood at attention, took off their hats, and sang, giving rise to a tradition that is repeated at almost every professional baseball game in United States today, though it is now performed prior to the first pitch.

Related Topics:
1916 - Woodrow Wilson - 1918 - Baseball - World Series - Seventh-inning stretch

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Eventually, a concerted public relations effort was made to make the song the country's national anthem (there had until that time been no official anthem). In 1931, John Philip Sousa published his opinion in favor, stating that "it is the spirit of the music that inspires" as much as it is Key's "soul-stirring" words. By Congressional resolution signed by President Herbert Hoover, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adopted as the national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931.

Related Topics:
John Philip Sousa - Herbert Hoover - March 3 - 1931

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Modern history

One of the most famous instrumental interpretations is Jimi Hendrix's guitar solo at the first Woodstock Festival. Although it was condemned by some conservatives as a desecration of the song (Roseanne's performance being far in the future), it has since become a celebrated emblematic signature of the ideals of the late 1960s.

Related Topics:
Jimi Hendrix - Woodstock Festival - Roseanne's - 1960s

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When sung in public (before major sporting events, for example), for reasons of brevity, verses after the first are almost always omitted and relatively few Americans know the words beyond the first verse. Isaac Asimov's short story No Refuge Could Save made light of this when a foreign spy was identified when it was found he knew every stanza, the joke being that no "real" Americans would know it. It is also sometimes said humorously that the last two words of the national anthem are "PLAY BALL!"

Related Topics:
Isaac Asimov - BALL

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A New York based band, Seeking Homer, released a version of the Star Spangled Banner on their second CD, A Good Hard Smack, in 1998. This rendition starts out with traditional harmonizing vocals and an acoustic guitar and ends with a more modern flare of electric guitars and chanting (e.g. "To the fathers who fought our wars/Kept the enemies off these shores" and "From San Francisco Bay to the coast of Portland, Maine/To the fisherman in Alaska to the farmers up in Nebraska/ USA!.) This version was used by the PGA golf tournament with a montage of clips from the weekend. After the terrorist attacks on NYC on September 11, 2001, the band re-recorded and released an extended version of the track and gave all proceeds to the American Red Cross fund.

Related Topics:
Seeking Homer - 1998 - San Francisco Bay - Portland, Maine - Alaska - Nebraska - USA - PGA - September 11, 2001 - American Red Cross

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