In the war of 1812 (September 13-14, 1814) Francis Scott Key watched the British attack on Fort McHenry with apprehension. He knew that as long as the shelling continued, Fort McHenry had not surrendered. But, during the long hours before daylight there was a sudden and perplexing silence. What Key did not know was that the British land assault on Baltimore as well as its naval attack, had been abandoned. The British Judged Baltimore as being too high a price,

the Redcoats ordered a retreat.

Waiting in the predawn darkness, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety; the joyous sight of General Armisteads great flag blowing in the breeze. When at last daylight came,

the flag was still there!

Commemorative plaque in Washington, D.C. marking the site at

601 Pennsylvania Avenue where "The Star-Spangled Banner"

was first publicly sung.

Francis Scott Key's original manuscript copy

of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem.

It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society.

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote new words for

a well-known drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," to

celebrate America's recent victory over the British.

However, only in 1931, following a twenty-year

effort during which more than forty bills

and joint resolutions were introduced in Congress,

was a law finally signed proclaiming

"The Star Spangled Banner" to be the national anthem

of the United States.

The present copy, one of only five known to have been

made by Key, is the earliest of four dating from the period

1840-1842 near the end of his life.

Shown here is a copy of the first printed edition

combining words and music.

Words by Francis Scott Key, Music by John Stafford Smith

O 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.
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 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 homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heaven-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!