READ/WATCH: Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem)

History Behind Our National Anthem-- "The Star Spangled Banner"

Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The poem, originally titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the "Star-Spangled Banner": "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Summary taken from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/key-pens-star-spangled-banner

View this moving video that details the events and inspiration behind the poem, originally titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," and now known as the song "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Read and Listen to "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Poem Form

Read the poem below.

- What does each verse mean to you? (Did you know that there are 4 versus?)

- Which versus or line stands out to you the most? Why?

- Why do you think this poem became the national anthem?

- What emotions or ideals did the author intend to convey?

- What symbols and beliefs did he refer to in order to accomplish his goal?

The Star Spangled Banner
By Francis Scott Key 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 thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched 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.
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 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! 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 a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed 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! Cont...

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 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!

Listen to the National Anthem

It's not exactly clear who set Key's poem to music. Some say it was Key's brother-in-law, Joseph Nicholson; others say it was Key himself. Either way, it is a song that has become the National Anthem that is deeply patriotic embedded in American culture.  You have probably heard it many times before and some would describe it,  " As American as Apple Pie" or "As American as Baseball".

Now that you have read the poem, listen to a performance of the National Anthem.  As you listen about the following:

- Remember an event where they have seen or heard the national anthem performed: at a ballgame, an Independence Day celebration or parade, a Veterans Day memorial service or parade, etc.

- Why do you think the anthem is played at these type of events.

- Does listening to "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed as a song and set to music evoke different emotion than reading it?