The national anthem of the United States, "The Star Spangled Banner," is actually a poem written by Francis Scott Key. It was inspired by the Battle of Baltimore (September 12-14, 1814.

During the British campaign against Washington, DC during the War of 1812, the elderly and respected Dr. William Beans was arrested for unfriendly acts against British soldiers. President James Madison sent Key, a lawyer, to negotiate for Beans' release. while the British agreed to his release, they were about to attack Baltimore, Maryland, and would not allow either man to leave until then. The British staged a two pronged attack, sending their naval fleet to attack and destroy Baltimore. For 25 hours, the British fired rockets and bombs at the harbor's main defense, Fort McHenry. When the British realized that they would not take Baltimore without heavy casualties, they departed.

Key watched the bombardment from down river and began writing its story while watching. When he returned to Baltimore, he finished the poem. It was written to match the meter of the old English melody "To Anacreon in Heaven."

The song became popular and well-known, and was used by both North and South during the Civil War. Widely accepted by the military, it became an unofficial national anthem until Congress declared it so in 1931.

A 30 foot wide by 42 foot long Star Spangled Banner is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Most Americans assume that this is the flag flown during the battle because of its deteriorated condition, but historians have discovered that there was a late summer storm during the battle that would have prevented flying the 1260 square woolen flag from being used and believe that a 17 foot by 25 foot storm flag would have been used. The large flag, however, was raised as the British were departing from Baltimore the next morning.

Contrary to popular legend, Key did not write the poem on the back of an envelope; they had not been invented them. the original manuscript is on display at the Maryland Historical Society.

Fort McHenry still stands and si part of the National Park Service. It is the only site designated as both a national monument and a historic shrine.

The Defense of Fort McHenry
by Francis Scott Key
20 September 1814

Oh, 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 rockets' 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, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on 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 wiped 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.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!