

How did the Star Spangled Banner become the national anthem?Ī. Key intended the poem to fit the popular song To Anacreon in Heaven, which is the tune of today’s U.S. Key was so moved that he wrote a poem entitled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” which contained the lyrics to what is today known as the Star Spangled Banner. Key told the American prisoners what he had seen. Instead, he was forced to helplessly watch the attack from the enemy ship.Īs the battle began to wind down, Key stared toward the shore, and there, among the smoke and fire, flowing proudly in the wind was the American flag. Because his presence on the British ship allowed him access to information regarding British plans to attack Fort McHenry, he was not allowed to leave the ship following his negotiations. Before the battle, Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, author and poet, was aboard a British ship negotiating prisoner exchanges. At one point during this battle, Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, was bombed for 25 hours straight. national anthem was written about the famous Battle of Baltimore during the British-American War of 1812.

national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner?Ī.
