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On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key penned the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry", later known as "The Star-Spangled Banner" while witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship in Baltimore harbor. From the article:
"The Star-Spangled Banner
“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 Baltimore, Maryland.
Background: War of 1812
Simmering anger at Britain for interfering in American trade, impressing U.S. sailors into the Royal Navy and standing in the way of westward expansion led the United States to declare war in June 1812.
With British forces distracted by the country’s ongoing 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 attention 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 bombardment. Early the next morning, they hoisted a gigantic U.S. flag over the fort, marking a crucial victory 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 Banner” 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 continued 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 newspapers printed it, and it spread quickly to various cities along the East Coast.
By November 1812, Key’s composition had appeared 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 popular 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 London gentleman’s music club called the Anacreontic Society.
The Anacreontic Song, as it was known, had a track record of popularity in the United States by 1814. In one famous case, defenders of the embattled second president, John Adams, used the tune for a song called “Adams and Liberty.”
Key himself had even used the tune before, as accompaniment for verses he wrote in 1805 commemorating American naval victories in the Barbary War.
Key’s Complicated Legacy
After the war of 1812, Key continued his thriving law career. He served as a member of the “Kitchen Cabinet” of President Andrew Jackson and in 1833 was appointed as a U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
He composed other verses over the course of his life, but none received anywhere close to the recognition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After contracting pleurisy, Key died in 1843 at the age of 63.
Though his celebrated anthem proclaimed the United States “the land of the free,” Key was in fact a slaveholder from an old Maryland plantation family, and as a U.S. attorney argued several prominent cases against the abolitionist movement. He did speak out against the cruelties of the institution of slavery, but did not see abolition as the solution.
Instead, Key became a leader of the colonization movement, which advocated the relocation of black slaves to Africa and eventually resulted in the modern nation of Liberia.
Growing Popularity of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
At first, “The Star-Spangled Banner” trailed “Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia” in popularity among patriotic 19th-century tunes. But during and immediately after the Civil War, Key’s song gained a deeper meaning, as the American flag became an increasingly powerful symbol of national unity.
By the 1890s, the U.S military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, playing it to accompany the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating it “the national anthem of the United States.”
In 1931—more than 100 years after it was composed—Congress passed a measure declaring “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem.
History of the National Anthem at Sporting Events
“The Star-Spangled Banner” made its sporting-event debut in September 1918, during that year’s first World Series game between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox.
In addition to the ongoing toll of World War I, a cloud of violence hung over Chicago’s Comiskey Park, as a bomb had torn apart the Chicago Federal Building just the day before. During the seventh-inning stretch, the military band on hand struck up “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and in a moving spectacle, players and fans alike fell silent and saluted the flag.
The practice soon spread across major league baseball, and into other sports, and eventually became a widely accepted pregame tradition.
While many view the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before sporting events as an important patriotic ritual, over the years some athletes have chosen to protest enduring racial injustices in American society by turning their backs on the flag, refusing to stand or taking a knee while the national anthem is performed."
"The Star-Spangled Banner
“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 Baltimore, Maryland.
Background: War of 1812
Simmering anger at Britain for interfering in American trade, impressing U.S. sailors into the Royal Navy and standing in the way of westward expansion led the United States to declare war in June 1812.
With British forces distracted by the country’s ongoing 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 attention 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 bombardment. Early the next morning, they hoisted a gigantic U.S. flag over the fort, marking a crucial victory 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 Banner” 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 continued 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 newspapers printed it, and it spread quickly to various cities along the East Coast.
By November 1812, Key’s composition had appeared 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 popular 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 London gentleman’s music club called the Anacreontic Society.
The Anacreontic Song, as it was known, had a track record of popularity in the United States by 1814. In one famous case, defenders of the embattled second president, John Adams, used the tune for a song called “Adams and Liberty.”
Key himself had even used the tune before, as accompaniment for verses he wrote in 1805 commemorating American naval victories in the Barbary War.
Key’s Complicated Legacy
After the war of 1812, Key continued his thriving law career. He served as a member of the “Kitchen Cabinet” of President Andrew Jackson and in 1833 was appointed as a U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
He composed other verses over the course of his life, but none received anywhere close to the recognition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After contracting pleurisy, Key died in 1843 at the age of 63.
Though his celebrated anthem proclaimed the United States “the land of the free,” Key was in fact a slaveholder from an old Maryland plantation family, and as a U.S. attorney argued several prominent cases against the abolitionist movement. He did speak out against the cruelties of the institution of slavery, but did not see abolition as the solution.
Instead, Key became a leader of the colonization movement, which advocated the relocation of black slaves to Africa and eventually resulted in the modern nation of Liberia.
Growing Popularity of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
At first, “The Star-Spangled Banner” trailed “Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia” in popularity among patriotic 19th-century tunes. But during and immediately after the Civil War, Key’s song gained a deeper meaning, as the American flag became an increasingly powerful symbol of national unity.
By the 1890s, the U.S military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, playing it to accompany the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating it “the national anthem of the United States.”
In 1931—more than 100 years after it was composed—Congress passed a measure declaring “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem.
History of the National Anthem at Sporting Events
“The Star-Spangled Banner” made its sporting-event debut in September 1918, during that year’s first World Series game between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox.
In addition to the ongoing toll of World War I, a cloud of violence hung over Chicago’s Comiskey Park, as a bomb had torn apart the Chicago Federal Building just the day before. During the seventh-inning stretch, the military band on hand struck up “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and in a moving spectacle, players and fans alike fell silent and saluted the flag.
The practice soon spread across major league baseball, and into other sports, and eventually became a widely accepted pregame tradition.
While many view the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before sporting events as an important patriotic ritual, over the years some athletes have chosen to protest enduring racial injustices in American society by turning their backs on the flag, refusing to stand or taking a knee while the national anthem is performed."
The Star-Spangled Banner
Posted from history.com
National Anthem
American Flag
War of 1812
American History
Military History
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The True history of Francis Scott Key the man behind the Star Spangled Banner.
The True history of Francis Scott Key the man behind the Star Spangled Banner.
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key penned the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry", later known as "The Star-Spangled Banner" while witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship in Baltimore harbor.
The True history of Francis Scott Key the man behind the Star Spangled Banner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qn-Lgq1Btw
Images:
1. Percy Moran's painting depicting Francis Scott Key the morning after the bombardment of Fort McHenry on top of the railing clinging to the rigging of a ship as he looks out at the Star Spangled banner on Fort McHenry.
2. Francis Scott key as a child picture in Library of Congress
3. Star Spangled Banner poem facsimile
4. Wood engraving of Francis Scott Key.
Biographies
1. battlefields.org/learn/biographies/francis-scott-key
2. nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/francis-scott-key.htm
1. Background from {[ https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/francis-scott-key/]}
Francis Scott Key
TITLE - Lawyer and Poet
WAR & AFFILIATION - War of 1812
American
DATE OF BIRTH - DEATH
August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843
Fancis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779. His father, John Ross Key, had just returned from being a second lieutenant in Captain Thomas Price’s Maryland Rifle Company during the Revolutionary War, when Francis was born at the family mansion “Terra Rubra” in Frederick County, Maryland, now known as Carroll County. While the war continued, Francis Key grew up on the family estates. At the age of 10 he was sent to Annapolis, Maryland, to attend grammar school, and later St. John’s College—graduating from the latter in 1796. After graduation he stayed with his paternal uncle Philip Barton Key to practice law. (Francis later named his son Philip Barton Key II in honor of his uncle. The younger Philip Barton Key was caught in an infamous Washington, DC, love triangle in the 1850s and was killed in broad day light by Congressman and later Civil War general Daniel Sickles, in Lafayette Square, on February 27, 1859.) After passing the bar in 1801, he settled in Georgetown, DC, which at that time was an independent municipality. After starting a thriving law practice Key married Mary “Polly” Taylor Lloyd. The couple had eleven children.
Throughout his life, Key was a devout Episcopalian and he almost became a priest instead of a lawyer after graduating from St. John’s. Because of his religious beliefs, he also opposed the armed conflict known as the War of 1812. Regardless of his beliefs, the lawyer turned to soldiers, and enlisted with the Georgetown Light Field Artillery.
As a lawyer and a soldier, Key was chosen to help negotiate a prisoner exchange with British prisoner exchange agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner. The negotiations focused on the release Dr. William Beanes, a Maryland physician and colleague of Key.
On September 5, 1814, Key and Skinner boarded the British HMS Tonnant stationed in the Baltimore Harbor in order to facilitate the exchange. The two sides came to an agreement and Beanes was set to be released; however, the British, who were in the midst of an active military campaign, were worried that the ship’s location had been compromised and would not allow Key, Skinner, or Beanes to return to shore.
On September 13th, the British opened a bombardment on Fort McHenry, as part of the larger Battle of Baltimore to control the city and the surrounding harbor. The British fired at the fort all night but could not overtake the fort. The next day, as the smoke from the artillery cleared, Key, Skinner, and Beanes could see an oversized American garrison flag flying over the fort. The British, knowing they didn’t have enough manpower to overtake the fort, withdrew. With this loss, the Battle of Baltimore ceased and the British fleet set sail for New Orleans.
Inspired by the events in Baltimore Harbor, Key wrote the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and overlaid it with the popular tune from the song “To Anacreaon in Heaven.” This song was written and composed in 1778 and 1780 respectively by Ralph Tomlinson and John Stafford Smith as the theme song for the Anacreontic Society, a London gentlemen society that met between monthly 1766-1791 to discuss music. After its conclusion, the song was still popular in the United Kingdom and the Thirteen Colonies. On September 20, the “Defence of Fort M’Henry” was published by the Baltimore Patriot. This song was published as “The Star-Spangled Banner” by 1814.
While this was a popular song, it did not officially become the United States National anthem until March 3, 1931. During the interim, “Hail Columbia” and “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” were the de facto anthems. “Hail, Columbia!” was composed by Philip Phile in 1789 for George Washington’s inauguration as “The President’s March” and rearranged to by Joseph Hopkinson later that year. This song is still played to honor and introduce the Vice President. The motto “In God we Trust” may have been adapted from the line “In God is our Trust” in the fourth stanza of Key’s poem. The motto was codified in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and became the official motto for the United States. Before 1956, “E Pluribus Unum,” translated as “from many, one,” was the de facto motto and was approved by an Act of Congress in 1782 to be used on the national seal and coinage.
After the war, Key went back to his law practice. He argued in front of the Supreme Court multiple times, such as during Aaron Burr’s conspiracy trails in 1807, and gave legal counsel to President Andrew Jackson’s cabinet during the Petticoat Affair concerning Secretary of War John Eaten and his wife Peggy O’Neal. In addition, he prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his assassination attempt on President Jackson in 1833, and later Key served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1833 to 1841.
During this time, slavery was a prominent legal issue. In 1816, Key helped found the American Colonization Society that promoted the emigration of African Americans from the United States to Africa. His family were slave owners and Key personally owned slaves until he freed them in 1830. As Attorney of DC, he prosecuted abolitionists and supported strict slave laws. Throughout his life he had varying, and contradictory, views on slavery, which mirrored the nation’s complex relationship with the institution leading toward the Civil War.
On January 11, 1843, Key died at the age of 63. While a prominent lawyer and figure in his own right, he also leaves behind the legacy as the writer of the United States’ National Anthem. Today, this anthem is synonymous with patriotism. With any symbol, it has been the means of veneration of the United States and protests for the country’s policies and procedures.
The lyrics of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” go as followed:
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s 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?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
2. Background from {[https://www.nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/francis-scott-key.htm]}
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key stood aboard the deck of an American truce ship on September 14, 1814 and watched the raising of Fort McHenry’s large garrison flag over the ramparts. He had witnessed Britain’s twenty-five hour bombardment of the Fort, and for Key, the raising of the American flag was a triumphant symbol of bravery and perseverance. This image inspired Key to write about what he had seen. In four stanzas, Key wrote “The Defense of Fort M’Henry.” The words spread like wildfire throughout the young nation. It became “The Star Spangled Banner” and was soon a national air like “Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia.” In 1931, Key’s song was designated as the national anthem of the United States.
Early Life
Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779 in Frederick County, Maryland. He was raised by a wealthy family on a plantation supported by enslaved labor called Terra Rubra (“red earth”). Members of the Key family practiced law, became elected officials, and fought both for and against the British during the American Revolution. Francis Scott Key, or “Frankie”, was particularly close to his sister Anne Phoebe Charlton Key. Key looked back on his childhood fondly, and wrote a poem entitled “To My Sister” in which he reflects on the “bright hours” he spent with her on the family plantation.
Key moved to Annapolis in 1789 to attend preparatory school at St. John’s College, where he studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, grammar, and the sciences. Key graduated from St. John’s and studied law under his uncle Philip Barton Key in 1796. In 1802, Key married into a prominent Maryland slave holding family, which would further complicate his relationship with slavery (see below). Key and his wife, Mary Tayloe “Polly” Lloyd, settled in Georgetown, where Key practiced law. He and Polly started a family, and they would eventually have eleven children. Key’s father was forced to auction off Terra Rubra by economic hardship, and Key took out a substantial loan to purchase the property for $8,500.00 in 1811. A struggle for financial stability drove Key away from serving in the ministry, which he had considered when he was a young lawyer. Key was a devout Episcopalian and took an active role in the activities of multiple Episcopalian churches.
Career
Francis Scott Key was a prominent lawyer in Frederick, Maryland and Washington, D.C. He made his name in 1807 defending Justus Eric Bollman and Samuel Swartwout who had been charged with treason in connection to an alleged conspiracy designed by Aaron Burr. Key served as an advisor to Andrew Jackson and served as the District Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1833 to 1841.
War of 1812
Key opposed the War of 1812 but served as a quartermaster in the Georgetown Artillery against the British. Key served as a volunteer aide to General Walter Smith at the Battle of Bladensburg in August of 1814. Key relayed tactical information and reportedly served to inform artillery positions based on his knowledge of the area. The Battle of Bladensburg was an embarrassing defeat for the United States and it allowed British forces to enter and take the capital city. One of Key’s most notable professional achievements was aiding John Skinner in negotiating for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent Upper Marlboro physician who had been captured by the British prior to the Battle of Baltimore. It has during this undertaking that Key penned “The Defense of Fort M’Henry,” which became “The Star-Spangled Banner” and later the national anthem in 1931.
Francis Scott Key and Slavery
Francis Scott Key had a conflicted relationship with slavery. Key defended enslaved individuals seeking their freedom as an attorney and believed that “by the law of nature all men are free. The presumption that even Black men and Africans are slaves is not a universal presumption.”
Despite any objections Key had to the institution of slavery, he chose to take part in its proliferation. Key most likely purchased his first enslaved person in 1800 or 1801, and by 1820 he owned six enslaved people. His family owned slaves at the time of his birth, and at least one of his children owned slaves after his death.
He defended other slave owners seeking to regain runaway “property” in several cases as an attorney. Key vehemently opposed abolition and favored the idea of colonization, helping to establish the American Colonization Society in 1816. Key manumitted, or freed, several slaves. These manumissions may have been rooted in profit, however, as the enslaved individuals he manumitted were of advanced age and may not have been able to provide a level of free labor that Key felt justified the cost of feeding and housing them. He signed a manumission for two enslaved boys named Joe and John, who were two years and six months of age, but stipulated that they would not be manumitted until they “attained the age of 25 years.”
The Star Spangled Banner and Slavery
Both the Star Spangled Banner and the eponymous song written about it are chained to the institution of slavery. Francis Scott Key defended and participated in the institution of slavery, and his personal ownership of other human beings stands opposed to his definition of the United States as “the land of the free.” The third verse of the song mentions that “No refuge could save the hireling and slave.” It is not clear what Key intended this line to mean, and he could have been referring to the foreign troops serving with the British, or perhaps the escaped enslaved men that comprised the British Colonial Marines.
The woman tasked with the creation of the thirty by forty-two-foot Star Spangled Banner, Mary Pickersgill, also owned slaves who were instrumental in supporting the creation of the flag. An indentured servant named Grace Wisher physically stitched much of the banner by hand. The institution of slavery is woven into the fabric of American identity and history.
Death
Key practiced law until just before his death of pleurisy on January 11, 1843. Key is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Greg Henning MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi Capt Rich Buckley SPC Margaret Higgins SPC Nancy Greene SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D SSG Jeffrey LeakeCSM Bruce TregoPFC (Join to see)[SPC Nancy GreeneSSG Franklin Briant~1346405:Lt Col Charlie Brown] CW5 Jack Cardwell
The True history of Francis Scott Key the man behind the Star Spangled Banner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qn-Lgq1Btw
Images:
1. Percy Moran's painting depicting Francis Scott Key the morning after the bombardment of Fort McHenry on top of the railing clinging to the rigging of a ship as he looks out at the Star Spangled banner on Fort McHenry.
2. Francis Scott key as a child picture in Library of Congress
3. Star Spangled Banner poem facsimile
4. Wood engraving of Francis Scott Key.
Biographies
1. battlefields.org/learn/biographies/francis-scott-key
2. nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/francis-scott-key.htm
1. Background from {[ https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/francis-scott-key/]}
Francis Scott Key
TITLE - Lawyer and Poet
WAR & AFFILIATION - War of 1812
American
DATE OF BIRTH - DEATH
August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843
Fancis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779. His father, John Ross Key, had just returned from being a second lieutenant in Captain Thomas Price’s Maryland Rifle Company during the Revolutionary War, when Francis was born at the family mansion “Terra Rubra” in Frederick County, Maryland, now known as Carroll County. While the war continued, Francis Key grew up on the family estates. At the age of 10 he was sent to Annapolis, Maryland, to attend grammar school, and later St. John’s College—graduating from the latter in 1796. After graduation he stayed with his paternal uncle Philip Barton Key to practice law. (Francis later named his son Philip Barton Key II in honor of his uncle. The younger Philip Barton Key was caught in an infamous Washington, DC, love triangle in the 1850s and was killed in broad day light by Congressman and later Civil War general Daniel Sickles, in Lafayette Square, on February 27, 1859.) After passing the bar in 1801, he settled in Georgetown, DC, which at that time was an independent municipality. After starting a thriving law practice Key married Mary “Polly” Taylor Lloyd. The couple had eleven children.
Throughout his life, Key was a devout Episcopalian and he almost became a priest instead of a lawyer after graduating from St. John’s. Because of his religious beliefs, he also opposed the armed conflict known as the War of 1812. Regardless of his beliefs, the lawyer turned to soldiers, and enlisted with the Georgetown Light Field Artillery.
As a lawyer and a soldier, Key was chosen to help negotiate a prisoner exchange with British prisoner exchange agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner. The negotiations focused on the release Dr. William Beanes, a Maryland physician and colleague of Key.
On September 5, 1814, Key and Skinner boarded the British HMS Tonnant stationed in the Baltimore Harbor in order to facilitate the exchange. The two sides came to an agreement and Beanes was set to be released; however, the British, who were in the midst of an active military campaign, were worried that the ship’s location had been compromised and would not allow Key, Skinner, or Beanes to return to shore.
On September 13th, the British opened a bombardment on Fort McHenry, as part of the larger Battle of Baltimore to control the city and the surrounding harbor. The British fired at the fort all night but could not overtake the fort. The next day, as the smoke from the artillery cleared, Key, Skinner, and Beanes could see an oversized American garrison flag flying over the fort. The British, knowing they didn’t have enough manpower to overtake the fort, withdrew. With this loss, the Battle of Baltimore ceased and the British fleet set sail for New Orleans.
Inspired by the events in Baltimore Harbor, Key wrote the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and overlaid it with the popular tune from the song “To Anacreaon in Heaven.” This song was written and composed in 1778 and 1780 respectively by Ralph Tomlinson and John Stafford Smith as the theme song for the Anacreontic Society, a London gentlemen society that met between monthly 1766-1791 to discuss music. After its conclusion, the song was still popular in the United Kingdom and the Thirteen Colonies. On September 20, the “Defence of Fort M’Henry” was published by the Baltimore Patriot. This song was published as “The Star-Spangled Banner” by 1814.
While this was a popular song, it did not officially become the United States National anthem until March 3, 1931. During the interim, “Hail Columbia” and “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” were the de facto anthems. “Hail, Columbia!” was composed by Philip Phile in 1789 for George Washington’s inauguration as “The President’s March” and rearranged to by Joseph Hopkinson later that year. This song is still played to honor and introduce the Vice President. The motto “In God we Trust” may have been adapted from the line “In God is our Trust” in the fourth stanza of Key’s poem. The motto was codified in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and became the official motto for the United States. Before 1956, “E Pluribus Unum,” translated as “from many, one,” was the de facto motto and was approved by an Act of Congress in 1782 to be used on the national seal and coinage.
After the war, Key went back to his law practice. He argued in front of the Supreme Court multiple times, such as during Aaron Burr’s conspiracy trails in 1807, and gave legal counsel to President Andrew Jackson’s cabinet during the Petticoat Affair concerning Secretary of War John Eaten and his wife Peggy O’Neal. In addition, he prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his assassination attempt on President Jackson in 1833, and later Key served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1833 to 1841.
During this time, slavery was a prominent legal issue. In 1816, Key helped found the American Colonization Society that promoted the emigration of African Americans from the United States to Africa. His family were slave owners and Key personally owned slaves until he freed them in 1830. As Attorney of DC, he prosecuted abolitionists and supported strict slave laws. Throughout his life he had varying, and contradictory, views on slavery, which mirrored the nation’s complex relationship with the institution leading toward the Civil War.
On January 11, 1843, Key died at the age of 63. While a prominent lawyer and figure in his own right, he also leaves behind the legacy as the writer of the United States’ National Anthem. Today, this anthem is synonymous with patriotism. With any symbol, it has been the means of veneration of the United States and protests for the country’s policies and procedures.
The lyrics of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” go as followed:
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s 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?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
2. Background from {[https://www.nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/francis-scott-key.htm]}
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key stood aboard the deck of an American truce ship on September 14, 1814 and watched the raising of Fort McHenry’s large garrison flag over the ramparts. He had witnessed Britain’s twenty-five hour bombardment of the Fort, and for Key, the raising of the American flag was a triumphant symbol of bravery and perseverance. This image inspired Key to write about what he had seen. In four stanzas, Key wrote “The Defense of Fort M’Henry.” The words spread like wildfire throughout the young nation. It became “The Star Spangled Banner” and was soon a national air like “Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia.” In 1931, Key’s song was designated as the national anthem of the United States.
Early Life
Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779 in Frederick County, Maryland. He was raised by a wealthy family on a plantation supported by enslaved labor called Terra Rubra (“red earth”). Members of the Key family practiced law, became elected officials, and fought both for and against the British during the American Revolution. Francis Scott Key, or “Frankie”, was particularly close to his sister Anne Phoebe Charlton Key. Key looked back on his childhood fondly, and wrote a poem entitled “To My Sister” in which he reflects on the “bright hours” he spent with her on the family plantation.
Key moved to Annapolis in 1789 to attend preparatory school at St. John’s College, where he studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, grammar, and the sciences. Key graduated from St. John’s and studied law under his uncle Philip Barton Key in 1796. In 1802, Key married into a prominent Maryland slave holding family, which would further complicate his relationship with slavery (see below). Key and his wife, Mary Tayloe “Polly” Lloyd, settled in Georgetown, where Key practiced law. He and Polly started a family, and they would eventually have eleven children. Key’s father was forced to auction off Terra Rubra by economic hardship, and Key took out a substantial loan to purchase the property for $8,500.00 in 1811. A struggle for financial stability drove Key away from serving in the ministry, which he had considered when he was a young lawyer. Key was a devout Episcopalian and took an active role in the activities of multiple Episcopalian churches.
Career
Francis Scott Key was a prominent lawyer in Frederick, Maryland and Washington, D.C. He made his name in 1807 defending Justus Eric Bollman and Samuel Swartwout who had been charged with treason in connection to an alleged conspiracy designed by Aaron Burr. Key served as an advisor to Andrew Jackson and served as the District Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1833 to 1841.
War of 1812
Key opposed the War of 1812 but served as a quartermaster in the Georgetown Artillery against the British. Key served as a volunteer aide to General Walter Smith at the Battle of Bladensburg in August of 1814. Key relayed tactical information and reportedly served to inform artillery positions based on his knowledge of the area. The Battle of Bladensburg was an embarrassing defeat for the United States and it allowed British forces to enter and take the capital city. One of Key’s most notable professional achievements was aiding John Skinner in negotiating for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent Upper Marlboro physician who had been captured by the British prior to the Battle of Baltimore. It has during this undertaking that Key penned “The Defense of Fort M’Henry,” which became “The Star-Spangled Banner” and later the national anthem in 1931.
Francis Scott Key and Slavery
Francis Scott Key had a conflicted relationship with slavery. Key defended enslaved individuals seeking their freedom as an attorney and believed that “by the law of nature all men are free. The presumption that even Black men and Africans are slaves is not a universal presumption.”
Despite any objections Key had to the institution of slavery, he chose to take part in its proliferation. Key most likely purchased his first enslaved person in 1800 or 1801, and by 1820 he owned six enslaved people. His family owned slaves at the time of his birth, and at least one of his children owned slaves after his death.
He defended other slave owners seeking to regain runaway “property” in several cases as an attorney. Key vehemently opposed abolition and favored the idea of colonization, helping to establish the American Colonization Society in 1816. Key manumitted, or freed, several slaves. These manumissions may have been rooted in profit, however, as the enslaved individuals he manumitted were of advanced age and may not have been able to provide a level of free labor that Key felt justified the cost of feeding and housing them. He signed a manumission for two enslaved boys named Joe and John, who were two years and six months of age, but stipulated that they would not be manumitted until they “attained the age of 25 years.”
The Star Spangled Banner and Slavery
Both the Star Spangled Banner and the eponymous song written about it are chained to the institution of slavery. Francis Scott Key defended and participated in the institution of slavery, and his personal ownership of other human beings stands opposed to his definition of the United States as “the land of the free.” The third verse of the song mentions that “No refuge could save the hireling and slave.” It is not clear what Key intended this line to mean, and he could have been referring to the foreign troops serving with the British, or perhaps the escaped enslaved men that comprised the British Colonial Marines.
The woman tasked with the creation of the thirty by forty-two-foot Star Spangled Banner, Mary Pickersgill, also owned slaves who were instrumental in supporting the creation of the flag. An indentured servant named Grace Wisher physically stitched much of the banner by hand. The institution of slavery is woven into the fabric of American identity and history.
Death
Key practiced law until just before his death of pleurisy on January 11, 1843. Key is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland.
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A three-part series about Francis Scott Key who not only wrote our national anthem, but was also a constitutional lawyer and an ambitious political operative...
F.S.Key After the Song
A three-part series about Francis Scott Key who not only wrote our national anthem, but was also a constitutional lawyer and an ambitious political operative for Andrew Jackson. Key’s life story is told through remembrances from his closest associates, as played by a group of gifted actors. Part One of F.S. Key After the Song is titled “The Era of Good Feelings.” It starts a heartbeat after Jackson’s battle of New Orleans and is a primer on early slavery. Part Two is titled “Might Versus Right.” It centers on Key’s change in character and his involvement in the Jackson Administration and his transformation into a political operative. Part Three is titled “Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.” It shows how Key goes head-to-head with abolitionists’ ideas -- and loses. Contact your local Public Television Station for air times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EBbwoIw9zg
Image:
1. Defense of Fort McHenry
2. Oil painting of Francis Scott Key as a child
3. Francis Scott Key looking at Fort McHenry, colorized drawing by Granger
Background from {[https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/usflag/francis.scott.key.html}
Francis Scott Key 1780-1843
Francis Scott Key was a respected young lawyer living in Georgetown just west of where the modern day Key Bridge crosses the Potomac River (the house was torn down after years of neglect in 1947). He made his home there from 1804 to around 1833 with his wife Mary and their six sons and five daughters. At the time, Georgetown was a thriving town of 5,000 people just a few miles from the Capitol, the White House, and the Federal buildings of Washington.
But, after war broke out in 1812 over Britian's attempts to regulate American shipping and other activities while Britain was at war with France, all was not tranquil in Georgetown. The British had entered Chesapeake Bay on August 19th, 1814, and by the evening of the 24th of August, the British had invaded and captured Washington. They set fire to the Capitol and the White House, the flames visible 40 miles away in Baltimore.
President James Madison,his wife Dolley, and his Cabinet had already fled to a safer location. Such was their haste to leave that they had had to rip the Stuart portrait of George Washington from the walls without its frame!
A thunderstorm at dawn kept the fires from spreading. The next day more buildings were burned and again a thunderstorm dampened the fires. Having done their work the British troops returned to their ships in and around the Chesapeake Bay.
In the days following the attack on Washington, the American forces prepared for the assault on Baltimore (population 40,000) that they knew would come by both land and sea. Word soon reached Francis Scott Key that the British had carried off an elderly and much loved town physician of Upper Marlboro, Dr. William Beanes, and was being held on the British flagship TONNANT. The townsfolk feared that Dr. Beanes would be hanged. They asked Francis Scott Key for his help, and he agreed, and arranged to have Col. John Skinner, an American agent for prisoner exchange to accompany him.
On the morning of September 3rd, he and Col. Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard a sloop flying a flag of truce approved by President Madison. On the 7th they found and boarded the TONNANT to confer with Gen. Ross and Adm. Alexander Cochrane. At first they refused to release Dr. Beanes. But Key and Skinner produced a pouch of letters written by wounded British prisoners praising the care they were receiving from the Americans, among them Dr. Beanes. The British officers relented but would not release the three Americans immediately because they had seen and heard too much of the preparations for the attack on Baltimore. They were placed under guard, first aboard the H.M.S. Surprise, then onto the sloop and forced to wait out the battle behind the British fleet.
Now let's go back to the summer of 1813 for a moment. At the star-shaped Fort McHenry, the commander, Maj. George Armistead, asked for a flag so big that "the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance". Two officers, a Commodore and a General, were sent to the Baltimore home of Mary Young Pickersgill, a "maker of colours," and commisioned the flag. Mary and her thirteen year old daughter Caroline, working in an upstairs front bedroom, used 400 yards of best quality wool bunting. They cut 15 stars that measured two feet from point to point. Eight red and seven white stripes, each two feet wide, were cut. Laying out the material on the malthouse floor of Claggett's Brewery, a neighborhood establishment, the flag was sewn together. By August it was finished. It measured 30 by 42 feet and cost $405.90. The Baltimore Flag House, a museum, now occupies her premises, which were restored in 1953.
At 7 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1814, the British bombardment began, and the flag was ready to meet the enemy. The bombardment continued for 25 hours,the British firing 1,500 bombshells that weighed as much as 220 pounds and carried lighted fuses that would supposedly cause it to explode when it reached its target. But they weren't very dependable and often blew up in mid air. From special small boats the British fired the new Congreve rockets that traced wobbly arcs of red flame across the sky. The Americans had sunk 22 vessels so a close approach by the British was not possible. That evening the connonading stopped, but at about 1 a.m. on the 14th, the British fleet roared to life, lighting the rainy night sky with grotesque fireworks.
Key, Col. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes watched the battle with apprehension. They knew that as long as the shelling continued, Fort McHenry had not surrendered. But, long before daylight there came a sudden and mysterious silence. What the three Americans did not know was that the British land assault on Baltimore as well as the naval attack, had been abandoned. Judging Baltimore as being too costly a prize, the British officers ordered a retreat.
Waiting in the predawn darkness, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety; the joyous sight of Gen. Armisteads great flag blowing in the breeze. When at last daylight came, the flag was still there!
Being an amatuer poet and having been so uniquely inspired, Key began to write on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. Sailing back to Baltimore he composed more lines and in his lodgings at the Indian Queen Hotel he finished the poem. Judge J. H. Nicholson, his brother-in-law, took it to a printer and copies were circulated around Baltimore under the title "Defence of Fort M'Henry". Two of these copies survive. It was printed in a newspaper for the first time in the Baltimore Patriot on September 20th,1814, then in papers as far away as Georgia and New Hampshire. To the verses was added a note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven." In October a Baltimore actor sang Key's new song in a public performance and called it "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Immediately popular, it remained just one of several patriotic airs until it was finally adopted as our national anthem on March 3, 1931. But the actual words were not included in the legal documents. Key himself had written several versions with slight variations so discrepancies in the exact wording still occur.
The flag, our beloved Star-Spangled Banner, went on view ,for the first time after flying over Fort McHenry, on January 1st,1876 at the Old State House in Philadelphia for the nations' Centennial celebration. It now resides in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History. An opaque curtain shields the now fragile flag from light and dust. The flag is exposed for viewing for a few moments once every hour during museum hours.
Francis Scott Key was a witness to the last enemy fire to fall on Fort McHenry. The Fort was designed by a Frenchman named Jean Foncin and was named for then Secretary of war James McHenry. Fort McHenry holds the unique designation of national monument and historic shrine.
Since May 30th, 1949 the flag has flown continuously, by a Joint Resolution of Congress, over the monument marking the site of Francis Scott Key's birthplace, Terra Rubra Farm, Carroll County, Keymar, Maryland.
The copy that Key wrote in his hotel September 14,1814, remained in the Nicholson family for 93 years. In 1907 it was sold to Henry Walters of Baltimore. In 1934 it was bought at auction in New York from the Walters estate by the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore for $26,400. The Walters Gallery in 1953 sold the manuscript to the Maryland Historical Society for the same price. Another copy that Key made is in the Library of Congress."
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SGT Gregory Lawritson SGT John " Mac " McConnellPO1 William "Chip" Nagel SP5 Jeannie CarleSPC Chris Bayner-Cwik TSgt David L.PO1 Robert GeorgeSFC William FarrellSPC Matthew LambSSG Robert "Rob" Wentworth SSG Chad Henning
A three-part series about Francis Scott Key who not only wrote our national anthem, but was also a constitutional lawyer and an ambitious political operative for Andrew Jackson. Key’s life story is told through remembrances from his closest associates, as played by a group of gifted actors. Part One of F.S. Key After the Song is titled “The Era of Good Feelings.” It starts a heartbeat after Jackson’s battle of New Orleans and is a primer on early slavery. Part Two is titled “Might Versus Right.” It centers on Key’s change in character and his involvement in the Jackson Administration and his transformation into a political operative. Part Three is titled “Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.” It shows how Key goes head-to-head with abolitionists’ ideas -- and loses. Contact your local Public Television Station for air times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EBbwoIw9zg
Image:
1. Defense of Fort McHenry
2. Oil painting of Francis Scott Key as a child
3. Francis Scott Key looking at Fort McHenry, colorized drawing by Granger
Background from {[https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/usflag/francis.scott.key.html}
Francis Scott Key 1780-1843
Francis Scott Key was a respected young lawyer living in Georgetown just west of where the modern day Key Bridge crosses the Potomac River (the house was torn down after years of neglect in 1947). He made his home there from 1804 to around 1833 with his wife Mary and their six sons and five daughters. At the time, Georgetown was a thriving town of 5,000 people just a few miles from the Capitol, the White House, and the Federal buildings of Washington.
But, after war broke out in 1812 over Britian's attempts to regulate American shipping and other activities while Britain was at war with France, all was not tranquil in Georgetown. The British had entered Chesapeake Bay on August 19th, 1814, and by the evening of the 24th of August, the British had invaded and captured Washington. They set fire to the Capitol and the White House, the flames visible 40 miles away in Baltimore.
President James Madison,his wife Dolley, and his Cabinet had already fled to a safer location. Such was their haste to leave that they had had to rip the Stuart portrait of George Washington from the walls without its frame!
A thunderstorm at dawn kept the fires from spreading. The next day more buildings were burned and again a thunderstorm dampened the fires. Having done their work the British troops returned to their ships in and around the Chesapeake Bay.
In the days following the attack on Washington, the American forces prepared for the assault on Baltimore (population 40,000) that they knew would come by both land and sea. Word soon reached Francis Scott Key that the British had carried off an elderly and much loved town physician of Upper Marlboro, Dr. William Beanes, and was being held on the British flagship TONNANT. The townsfolk feared that Dr. Beanes would be hanged. They asked Francis Scott Key for his help, and he agreed, and arranged to have Col. John Skinner, an American agent for prisoner exchange to accompany him.
On the morning of September 3rd, he and Col. Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard a sloop flying a flag of truce approved by President Madison. On the 7th they found and boarded the TONNANT to confer with Gen. Ross and Adm. Alexander Cochrane. At first they refused to release Dr. Beanes. But Key and Skinner produced a pouch of letters written by wounded British prisoners praising the care they were receiving from the Americans, among them Dr. Beanes. The British officers relented but would not release the three Americans immediately because they had seen and heard too much of the preparations for the attack on Baltimore. They were placed under guard, first aboard the H.M.S. Surprise, then onto the sloop and forced to wait out the battle behind the British fleet.
Now let's go back to the summer of 1813 for a moment. At the star-shaped Fort McHenry, the commander, Maj. George Armistead, asked for a flag so big that "the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance". Two officers, a Commodore and a General, were sent to the Baltimore home of Mary Young Pickersgill, a "maker of colours," and commisioned the flag. Mary and her thirteen year old daughter Caroline, working in an upstairs front bedroom, used 400 yards of best quality wool bunting. They cut 15 stars that measured two feet from point to point. Eight red and seven white stripes, each two feet wide, were cut. Laying out the material on the malthouse floor of Claggett's Brewery, a neighborhood establishment, the flag was sewn together. By August it was finished. It measured 30 by 42 feet and cost $405.90. The Baltimore Flag House, a museum, now occupies her premises, which were restored in 1953.
At 7 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1814, the British bombardment began, and the flag was ready to meet the enemy. The bombardment continued for 25 hours,the British firing 1,500 bombshells that weighed as much as 220 pounds and carried lighted fuses that would supposedly cause it to explode when it reached its target. But they weren't very dependable and often blew up in mid air. From special small boats the British fired the new Congreve rockets that traced wobbly arcs of red flame across the sky. The Americans had sunk 22 vessels so a close approach by the British was not possible. That evening the connonading stopped, but at about 1 a.m. on the 14th, the British fleet roared to life, lighting the rainy night sky with grotesque fireworks.
Key, Col. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes watched the battle with apprehension. They knew that as long as the shelling continued, Fort McHenry had not surrendered. But, long before daylight there came a sudden and mysterious silence. What the three Americans did not know was that the British land assault on Baltimore as well as the naval attack, had been abandoned. Judging Baltimore as being too costly a prize, the British officers ordered a retreat.
Waiting in the predawn darkness, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety; the joyous sight of Gen. Armisteads great flag blowing in the breeze. When at last daylight came, the flag was still there!
Being an amatuer poet and having been so uniquely inspired, Key began to write on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. Sailing back to Baltimore he composed more lines and in his lodgings at the Indian Queen Hotel he finished the poem. Judge J. H. Nicholson, his brother-in-law, took it to a printer and copies were circulated around Baltimore under the title "Defence of Fort M'Henry". Two of these copies survive. It was printed in a newspaper for the first time in the Baltimore Patriot on September 20th,1814, then in papers as far away as Georgia and New Hampshire. To the verses was added a note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven." In October a Baltimore actor sang Key's new song in a public performance and called it "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Immediately popular, it remained just one of several patriotic airs until it was finally adopted as our national anthem on March 3, 1931. But the actual words were not included in the legal documents. Key himself had written several versions with slight variations so discrepancies in the exact wording still occur.
The flag, our beloved Star-Spangled Banner, went on view ,for the first time after flying over Fort McHenry, on January 1st,1876 at the Old State House in Philadelphia for the nations' Centennial celebration. It now resides in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History. An opaque curtain shields the now fragile flag from light and dust. The flag is exposed for viewing for a few moments once every hour during museum hours.
Francis Scott Key was a witness to the last enemy fire to fall on Fort McHenry. The Fort was designed by a Frenchman named Jean Foncin and was named for then Secretary of war James McHenry. Fort McHenry holds the unique designation of national monument and historic shrine.
Since May 30th, 1949 the flag has flown continuously, by a Joint Resolution of Congress, over the monument marking the site of Francis Scott Key's birthplace, Terra Rubra Farm, Carroll County, Keymar, Maryland.
The copy that Key wrote in his hotel September 14,1814, remained in the Nicholson family for 93 years. In 1907 it was sold to Henry Walters of Baltimore. In 1934 it was bought at auction in New York from the Walters estate by the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore for $26,400. The Walters Gallery in 1953 sold the manuscript to the Maryland Historical Society for the same price. Another copy that Key made is in the Library of Congress."
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