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Star Spangled Banner (In Defense of Fort McHenry)Star Spangled Banner (In Defense of Fort McHenry)

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, thru 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?

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 on 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 washed out their foul footsteps' 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 loved home and the war's desolation! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land 
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 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!

by Francis Scott Key (1814) 








 

 


Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, poet and author from Georgetown. He penned the poem during the War of 1812 when on board the British ship HMS Tonnant. He and American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel  John Stuart Skinner had been negotiating the release of American prisoners. However Key and Skinner were not permitted to return to their own sloop after boarding the British ship as they had gained military information regarding the British units and their intent to attack Baltimore. Consequently Key and Skinner could only watch as the British bombarded the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the eve of September 13-14, 1814.

After the bombardment, and as the smoke was fading, Key could see an American flag still waving. On his return to Baltimore he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience. He wrote "The Defence of Fort McHenry" which was published in the Patriot on September 20, 1814. The poem was paired with the music composed by John Stafford Smith, "The Anacreonatic  Song" which was the official song of the Anacreonatic Society, an 18th century gentleman's club in London comprised of amateur musicians. The poem and music have since become known as the "The Star Spangled Banner" and adopted as the American national anthem by Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and then by Congressional resolution by President Herbert Hoover in 1931.

In the fourth stanza, Key pressed for for the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. This was legally adopted as the United States' motto in 1956.