"The Star-Spangled Banner" is celebrating another birthday. It was 190 years ago this week -- during the Battle of Baltimore -- that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics that later became the U.S. national anthem.
Historian Anthony Pitch talks to NPR's Liane Hansen about the events that led to a decisive American victory and the end of the War of 1812.
Key, a young Washington lawyer, wrote the song aboard a British ship. He and a fellow American, John Skinner, were attempting to secure the release of a friend captured by the British following the Battle of Bladensburg and the burning of Washington several weeks earlier.
Impressed by humane American treatment of wounded British soldiers at Bladensburg, the commander agreed to release his American captive after his attack on Baltimore's Fort McHenry. Key and Skinner were essentially hostages on the ship during much of the battle.
After an intense bombardment, Key saw "the flag still there," signaling that the battered fort was still in U.S. hands. And he was moved to write the lyrics that are still with us today.
The Battle of Baltimore proved a defining moment for the young nation. The victory restored dignity and self-worth, and the defeat of the powerful British Navy launched the U.S. ascent as a world power.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
