![the story of the star spangled banner song the story of the star spangled banner song](https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781422287552/the-star-spangled-banner-9781422287552_hr.jpg)
The song has been covered by many artists, most notably Louis Armstrong. Today, it is known everywhere America goes: on baseball fields, basketball courts, and football fields across the country. It was not popular at first, but it grew in popularity after being used as an army bugle call during the War of 1812. The poem was first published in 1814 in the National Intelligencer newspaper. He was imprisoned in England after his ship was taken by the British, but he was allowed to return to America because of his poor health. Key wrote the poem after watching ships firing their guns during the Battle of Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The song is based on a European military tune called "John Anderson My John." Since then, it has grown into the United States' national anthem, and it is played at official ceremonies, schools, and athletic events. Why is the Star Spangled Banner the national anthem?Īfter being delighted that the United States had escaped British assault, Francis Scott Key penned the "Star-Spangled Banner" as a joyful poem. That's when President Herbert Hoover signed a bill making it so. But the song we know today as "The Star-Spangled Banner" didn't become our national anthem until February 13, 1931. He said this inspired him to write about what he saw and heard, which is why the poem includes references to birds and animals.Īfter publishing his poem, Key went home to Illinois where he lived with his wife and family until he died in 1843.
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In his poem, Key described what he saw from his window at night during the battle: dark skies filled with stars that seemed like "banners" waving in the breeze, an exploding bomb, and then hearing dogs howl and people cry out in pain. The idea came just days after the United States had lost its first war with Britain, and many Americans were angry about it. Key had been hired as a clerk by the secretary of the Navy, who asked him to come up with a poem to be sung by sailors aboard U.S. The poem was published two months later in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper. What event led to the adoption of the Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem?įrancis Scott Key wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" on September 14, 1814, after watching the enormous nighttime British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill that included "The Star-Spangled Banner" into law. This became known as "the march to war." After World War I began, other bands started using it as their own version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." During this performance, Sousa suggested adding drums to the orchestra to make a bigger sound. In 1914, director James Crossley hired actor John Philip Sousa to lead a band at a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. The original manuscript of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is housed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This first edition sold out within months and was followed by several more.
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Griffith who published it along with an illustration by J.E. Key sold rights to his poem to William W. In his poem, he described what he had seen as "a sight glorious to see" and used this as inspiration for writing about how our country came into existence. The poem, originally titled "The Defense of Fort M'Henry," was written after Key watched the British bombardment of the Maryland fort during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key writes a poem on Septemthat is eventually adapted to music and becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," in 1931.