Seeking a standard, singular version, President Woodrow Wilson tasked the United States Bureau of Education with providing the official version for future purposes. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the music and words together under the title “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Carr’s arrangement introduced and raised forth what became the standard deviation from “The Anacreontic Song.” The song’s popularity increased and its first public performance took place in October when Baltimore actor Ferdinand Durang sang it at Captain McCauley’s tavern.īy the early 1900s there were various versions of the song in popular use. On September 20, the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song with the note “Tune: Anacreon in Heaven,” and the song quickly gained popularity, with seventeen newspapers from New Hampshire to Georgia printing it. Of these, two known copies survive today. Nicholson then took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17.
Nicholson, who saw the words fit perfectly with the popular melody “The Anacreontic Song” by British composer John Stafford Smith. Key later gave the poem to his brother-in-law Judge Joseph H. Key and Skinner were released at twilight on September 16 and Key went on to complete the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel where he was staying and titled it “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” The flag, featuring fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, was made by Mary Young Pickersgill together with other workers in her home on Baltimore’s Pratt Street, later came to be known as the Star-Spangled Banner.Īboard the ship the next day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he kept in his pocket. The victory and the sight of the sight of the large United States flag flying triumphantly over the fort in the morning served as inspiration to Key. On September 14, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.ĭuring the attack, the HMS Terror and HMS Meteor provided some of the “bombs bursting in air” mentioned in the song. Because they heard details of the plans for the attack in Baltimore, they were held captive, first above the HMS Surprise and later on the HMS Minden, until the end of the battle.ĭuring the rainy night, Key witnessed the bombardment and observed how the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the Congreve rocket and shell barrage had stopped, he would not know the result of the battle until dawn the next morning. At first, the officers 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. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship the HMS Tonnant on September 7 and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner while the two officers discussed war plans. William Beanes, the popular elderly town physician of Upper Marlboro and a friend of Key’s who had been captured in his home for the alleged aiding of the arrest of British soldiers. On September 3, 1814, following the burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria, Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard the HMS Minden, flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison with the objective of securing an exchange of prisoners. Do you know the history behind America’s national anthem? July 4th at the National Archives is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of John Hancock, AARP, and Dykema.The standardized version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” we all know and love premiered in 1917. The book raises important questions about the banner what it meant in 1814, what it means to us today, and why it matters. An entire chapter is devoted to some of the most famous performances of the anthem, from Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock to Roseanne Barr at a baseball game to the iconic Whitney Houston version from the 1991 Super Bowl. Examining the origins of both text and music, alternate lyrics and translations, and the song’s use in sports, at times of war, and for political protest, he argues that the anthem’s meaning reflects-and is reflected by-the nation’s quest to become a more perfect union. EDT Register View on YouTubeĪuthor Mark Clague will discuss the history of America’s national anthem, the stories of the song and the nation it represents, and its powerful meaning today.