The Untied States National Anthem is “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Some people may not know the words or the history behind the song.
History
During the War of 1812, the U.S. fought England and the Native Americans. On September 13, 1814, the British attacked Fort McHenry in hopes of capturing it. Fort McHenry was the main fort in Baltimore, Maryland.
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key had boarded the English ship to negotiate releasing prisoners. Key was not able to get back to the fort before the English began bombarding it. All throughout the night the English ships bombarded Fort McHenry. In the morning, Francis Scott Key looked at the fort to see if the British had succeeded or not. The British had failed to conquer Fort McHenry as the American flag still waved over the fort.
The Poem
Francis Scott Key was inspired by battle so he wrote a poem titled “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Our National Anthem
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order saying “The Star-Spangled Banner” was the Untied States’ National Anthem.
On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed into law an act Congress passed confirming President Wilson’s executive order. [1]
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
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 perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched 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.
Oh, 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! Oh 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 had 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!
Oh! 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!
Notes:
- ^https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-star-spangled-banner-becomes-official (go back ↩)
