Tuesday, July 4, 2023

The Story Behind The Song: The Star-Spangled Banner

 


"Every word came from his heart, and for that reason, even more
than from its political merit, it never fails to find a response in the
hearts of those who hear it."
-Justice Taney


Francis Scott Key
(1825)
Joseph Wood
(1778-1830)
American painter
Image courtesy/Wikipedia



The Star-Spangled Banner


"Oh, 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, thro' the perilous fight

O'er ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, 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 thro' 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 on the stream:

'Tis the star spangled banner; oh, 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  country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps 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 freeman shall stand

Between their loved home and wild war's desolation;

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

Praise the pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,

And this be our motto: "In God we trust!"

And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


The Story Behind The Song

Our beautiful national anthem was composed by Francis Scott Key,
 a young lawyer from Baltimore, Maryland and an eye witness to 
  the bombardment of Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814
 when that stronghold was successfully defended 
 from an attack by the British fleet.

According to Roger Brooke Taney,  fifth Chief Justice of the United States:

"The scene which he (Francis Scott Key) describes and the warm spirit of
patriotism which breathes in the song, were not the offspring of mere
fancy or poetic imagination. He tell us what he actually saw, what he
felt while witnessing the conflict, and what he felt when the battle
was over and the victory was won by his countrymen.

Every word came from his heart, and for that reason, even more
than from its political merit, it never fails to find a response in the
hearts of those who hear it."

By authority of President James Madison,  Mr. Key had gone to 
the British fleet bearing the flag of truce to secure the release of 
his friend, Dr. Beanes, who had been captured by the enemy and
  was being held on board the flagship, charged with violating
his parole.  Mr. Key met with General Ross and Admirals
Cockburn and Cochrane, and despite some difficulty
secured from them a promise to release Dr. Beanes.

However, at the same time, both Key and Dr. Beanes were told
that they would not be permitted to leave the fleet until after the
proposed attack on Fort McHenry.  The ship on which Key found
himself, his friend, and the commissioner who accompanied the
  flag of truce, sailed up Chesapeake Bay and anchored at the 
mouth of the Patapsco River, in full view of Fort McHenry.

There they watched the flag of the fort through the entire day with
 an air of dread until darkness fell, preventing them from seeing it.
All through the long, anxiety-ridden night, Mr. Key and his comrades
remained on deck, noting every shell fired at the fort. No one knew
for sure whether Fort McHenry had surrendered or been abandoned.

In the first light of dawn, Mr. Key saw, with a mixture of delight
and relief, that our glorious flag was still there, stirring in the
morning breeze above the fort.  That same day on his way
back to Baltimore, he wrote and finished his recollection of
events in a poem entitled, "The Defense of Fort M'Henry".

Only an hour after the poem was placed in the hands of a printer,
it was on the streets and being hailed as a victory song. 

 The music for what would become known as "The Star Spangled Banner"
 was adapted from an old French air, long known in England as "Anacreon"
and afterwards in America as "Adams & Liberty".

"The Star Spangled Banner" was first recognized for official use in 1889
 by the United States Navy.  On March 3, 1931 the United States Congress
passed a joint resolution making the song the official national anthem of the
 United States of America, which President Herbert Hoover signed into law.


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