He did speak out against the cruelties of the institution of slavery, but did not see abolition as the solution. attorney argued several prominent cases against the abolitionist movement. 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. 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. He served as a member of the “Kitchen Cabinet” of President Andrew Jackson and in 1833 was appointed as a U.S. Key’s Complicated LegacyĪfter the war of 1812, Key continued his thriving law career. Key himself had even used the tune before, as accompaniment for verses he wrote in 1805 commemorating American naval victories in the Barbary War. In one famous case, defenders of the embattled second president, John Adams, used the tune for a song called “Adams and Liberty.” The Anacreontic Song, as it was known, had a track record of popularity in the United States by 1814. It was originally performed at a London gentleman’s music club called the Anacreontic Society. Written around 1775 by John Stafford Smith, the song honored the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, a lover of wine. 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.” Back in Baltimore, he continued working until he had completed four verses (only one of which is commonly known today).Īfter 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.īy November 1814, Key’s composition had appeared in print for the first time under the name “The Star-Spangled Banner.” From Drinking Song to American Anthem Who Wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”?įrancis 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. As a condition of the release, the British ordered the Americans not to return to shore during the attack on Baltimore. William Beanes, who had been captured in an earlier battle. Key had been helping to negotiate the release of an American civilian, Dr. Francis Scott KeyĪ 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. flag over the fort, marking a crucial victory and a turning point in what would be considered a second war of American independence. Early the next morning, they hoisted a gigantic U.S.
soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry withstood some 25 hours of British bombardment. The Royal Navy then trained its sights on the key seaport of Baltimore, Maryland. and set fire to the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings. That August, British troops invaded Washington, D.C.
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But after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the British turned their full attention to the war in North America. 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. sailors into the Royal Navy and standing in the way of westward expansion led the United States to declare war in June 1812. Simmering anger at Britain for interfering in American trade, impressing U.S.
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