The Star-Spangled Banner
Fort McHenry Aerial Photo
The Rockets' Red Glare
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine Maryland is the official National Park Service website and has numerous resources about the Battle of Baltimore, September 13-14, 1814.
This copy of the Star spangled banner was written by Key in 1842 for his friend Gen. George Keim of Reading, PA. (Content). Inscription at bottom: "to Gen. Keim."
Key, F. S. Facsimile of Keim manuscript. [1842] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010478/>.
Print shows the text of the Star Spangled Banner within an oval design at center, surrounded by circular star-bursts that contain letters spelling "Bombardment of Fort M'Henry" within a frame that has a ship in the upper left corner and the seal of the United States in the upper right corner.
Key, Francis Scott. The star spangled banner / written by Francis S. Key, Esq. of Georgetown, D.C. in. [Between 1814 and 1864] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2012649666/>.
Smith, John Stafford, Walter Damrosch, and Francis Scott Key. Star Spangled Banner. G. Schirmer, 1918. Notated Music. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010133/>.
Smith, John Stafford, Ch Voss, and Francis Scott Key. TheStar Spangled Banner. G. Andre and Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1862. Notated Music. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100000011/>.
Star Spangled Banner shows Francis Scott Key's original manuscript and information about the national anthem.
The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner: How the flag that flew proudly over Fort McHenry inspired an anthem and made its way to the Smithsonian Cate Lineberry explores the history of this American flag in this March 1, 2007 article.
Star Spangled Banner FAQs answers a good variety of questions about the national anthem.
Defense of Fort McHenry Youtube Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-6zugC2Ug Jun 12, 2012 Do you know how our National Anthem came to be? We have a raging battle, a young poet and Maryland to thank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiVryYnzmdI May 30, 2014 When the British army held Francis Scott Key captive aboard one of their warships during the Battle of Baltimore, they could never have guessed his stay would inspire their enemy's most-patriotic song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvaGqYG7t8Q Jan 26, 2021 Learn about the history of Fort McHenry and the writing of the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=755C3CDA-C38B-5253-C59553ED610CDAB4 Learn about the history of Fort McHenry and the writing of the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIODUFpatkQ Sep 14, 2020 The U.S. Army Field Band performs the Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHenry for Defenders Day. Defenders Day commemorates the defense of Baltimore from September 12th through September 14th during the War of 1812. The events inspired Francis Scott Key to write the now famous words of the Star Spangled Banner, which became our National Anthem in 1931. Enjoy this beautiful rendition performed "O'er the ramparts."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5zfFDT-pNo Oct 30, 2013 The giant Star-Spangled Banner flag is one of our most popular artifacts, and a centerpiece of the Museum. Why then are pieces of it kept locked away in storage? Host Tory Altman talks with textile conservator Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss to find out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwC3L5KboHU Jun 11, 2014 Grammy-nominated country music singer Josh Turner talks about what singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" means to him.
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d 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 wash’d out their foul footstep’s 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 lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d 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.
