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The Star
Spangled Banner
 “The
Star-Spangled Banner”
is the
national anthem
of the
United States of
America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a
poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet
Francis Scott Key
after witnessing the bombardment of
Fort McHenry
by
Royal Navy
ships in
Chesapeake Bay
during the
Battle of
Baltimore in the Second American War for Independence (1812 –
1815).
The poem was set to the tune of a popular British
drinking song,
written by
John Stafford
Smith for a men's social club of amateur musicians in
London.
"To
Anacreon
in Heaven", set to various lyrics, was already popular in the United
States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it
would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of
one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing.
Although the song has four
stanzas,
only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O thus be it
ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions.
The attack on Washington, including the burning of the White House,
followed by the attack on Baltimore, though quite serious, was part of a
strategic diversion intended to draw forces away from the main attack
down the Champlain and Hudson valleys (detailed above). Even though the
American victory on Lake Champlain had ended the principal threat,
English possession of Baltimore could have put a stranglehold upon the
entire commerce of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, most notably
the Susquehanna River. It would have been a most valuable negotiating
chip in English hands during any peace negotiations. But before the
English could take Baltimore, they would have to reduce and capture Fort
McHenry.
Oh,
say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave,
O’er
the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave
Fort
McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland
National Park
Service Aerial Photo
 Fort
McHenry
was designed in 1798, and
named after
James McHenry,
a Dublin-educated native of Ballymena, County Antrim, in Ireland’s
northern Province of Ulster. He came to the United States in 1771, and
studied medicine in Baltimore. He was a surgeon-soldier, joining
Washington’s staff before the Battle of Monmouth, and staying with him
through 1781; he became
Secretary of War
under
President
Washington, and continued under Adams (1796-1800). Fort
McHenry was built to defend the important
Port of Baltimore
from enemy attacks. It was positioned on the
Locust Point
peninsula which juts into the opening of Baltimore Harbor, and was
constructed in the form of a
five-pointed star
surrounded by a dry
moat —
a deep, broad trench. See:
http://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm.
Beginning at 6:00 A.M. on 13
September
1815,
ships of the Royal Navy began a continuous bombardment of the fort,
which would last for over 24 hours. Despite having longer range guns,
as well as rockets, the British ships were unable to pass Fort McHenry
and penetrate
Baltimore Harbor
because of defenses including a chain, sunken ships, and the American
cannon. They were, however, able to come close enough to fire
rockets
and
mortars
on the fort. “The rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air,” are
recalled in American 4th of July fireworks displays, which
celebrate not only the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but, also,
its successful defense in America’s Second War for Independence.
Francis
Scott Key
 Francis
Scott Key,
a Washington lawyer who had come to Baltimore to negotiate the release
of Dr. William Beanes, a civilian
prisoner of war,
witnessed the bombardment from a nearby truce ship. During the rainy
night, Key observed that the
fort’s
smaller "storm flag" continued to fly, but once the shell and
Congreve rocket
barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned
out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered, and an
oversized
American flag,
which had been sewn in anticipation of the British attack on the fort,
had been raised. The naval component of the British attack upon
Baltimore had been repulsed. When Key saw the huge flag emerge intact
in the dawn of 14
September,
he was so moved that he began that morning to compose the poem "The
Defence of Fort McHenry" which would be renamed "The
Star-Spangled Banner" and later become the
national anthem
of the United States of America.
On 20 September, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American
printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The song
quickly became popular, with seventeen newspapers from
Georgia
to
New Hampshire
printing it. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in
Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The
Star-Spangled Banner". The song’s popularity increased, and its
first public performance took place in October, when it was sung at
Captain McCauley’s
tavern,
601 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
The
song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands
played it during public events, such as 4th of July /
Independence Day celebrations. On 27 July 1889, US Navy General Order
#374 made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official tune to be played at
the raising of the flag.
“Play Ball”
- While "Star-Spangled Banner" was performed as early as 1897 at
baseball opening day ceremonies in
Philadelphia,
and then more regularly at the
Polo Grounds
in
New York City
beginning in 1898, the tradition of performing the national anthem
before every baseball game did not begin until the Second World War.
National anthems are now common at major sporting events around the
world.
John Philip Sousa
recommended that the United States adopt the “Star Spangled Banner” as a
national anthem, stating that "it is the spirit of the music that
inspires" as much as it is Key’s "soul-stirring" words. "The
Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized as the national anthem by
congressional
resolution
(46 Stat. 1508, codified at
36 U.S.C. § 301),
signed into law by President
Herbert Hoover
on 3 March 1931.
Administered by the National Park Service since 1933, Fort
McHenry is the only area of the National Park System to be designated
both a National Monument and an Historic Shrine. Fort McHenry is open to
the public year round and offers visitor programs and special events.
It is a tradition that when a new flag is designed for use by the United
States, it is first flown over Fort McHenry, over the same ramparts
referred to in the National Anthem. The first official flags with 49
stars, and with 50 stars, were flown over Fort McHenry and remain there
today.
One of the biggest celebrations at Fort McHenry happens in early
September, when
Defenders Day ceremonies
are held, in conjunction with “Star Spangled Banner” week-end, to
celebrate the successful defense of the city during the War of 1812.
However, any time of year is a good time to visit both Fort McHenry and
the Frigate CONSTELLATION, both in Baltimore.
USS
CONSTELLATION
 The
first USS CONSTELLATION (1797 – 1853), a 38-gun frigate designed by
naval constructors Joshua Humphreys and Josiah Fox whose plans were
altered in the execution by builder, David Stodder, and the
superintendent of shipbuilding, Captain Thomas Truxtun, was built at the
Sterrett Shipyard, Baltimore, Md., and launched on 7 September 1797.
It takes its name from the constellation of stars on the American flag,
the “Star Spangled Banner.” During America’s Second War for
Independence, she was commanded by Captain (later Rear Admiral) Charles
Stewart (1778 – 1869), grandfather and namesake of the great Irish
Parliamentary Party leader, and champion of Home Rule for Ireland,
Charles Stewart Parnell
(27
June 1846 – 6 October 1891), the Blackbird of Avondale. Since
the death of Parnell, 6th October has been “Ivy Day” in
Ireland. No longer in
commission, the CONSTELLATION is maintained by Historic Ships in
Baltimore.
http://www.historicships.org/historic-ships.html
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