Some printed editions of the song omit that verse altogether. This publication includes all four verses of the song, including the controversial lines in the third verse, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.” Key was most likely referring to the more than 4,000 enslaved people who joined the Corps of Colonial Marines during the War of 1812 to fight for the British to gain their freedom. This document, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” is from the Analectic Magazine, published by Moses Thomas in Philadelphia. President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order to make it the national anthem for the military in 1916, and in 1931, Congress passed legislation making it the national anthem.
Within a few months, the song’s title, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was replaced with its more recognizable name, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” (It is believed that Thomas Carr, a Baltimore publisher, coined the new title.) In the 1890s, the US Navy and Army made “The Star-Spangled Banner” an official song of the military. By October, seventeen newspapers had spread the song up and down the East Coast. A local printer first published the lyrics in a broadside and shortly after, two Baltimore newspapers picked it up as well.
“Defence of Fort M’Henry” grew to be one of the most recognized songs in the United States. Once he returned to the city, he drafted three more verses, completing what was then titled “Defence of Fort M‘Henry.” The words were put to the tune of a popular British song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Upon seeing the American flag still aloft, he wrote, on the back of a letter, the first verse of what would eventually become the national anthem of the United States. After twenty-five hours of heavy bombardment, Key was sure that, come dawn, the British flag would be flying over Baltimore. Key had been negotiating the release of an American captive during the War of 1812 when the British attacked the fort. She has a Bachelors degree in music performance from Oklahoma State University, Masters degree in music performance from University of Minnesota, and Masters degree in music education from Syracuse University.In September 1814, Francis Scott Key, an attorney and DC insider, watched the American flag rise over Baltimore, Maryland’s Fort McHenry from a British ship in the harbor. She started her teaching career in New York State and has taught general music for the last four years in Oklahoma. Jennifer Butler, has taught band, general and vocal music K-12 in public schools for 14 years. Music lesson-Learning about Francis Scott Key and the song The Star-Spangled BannerĪdditional resources- Smithsonian Education Physical Education lesson-Learning a Colonial dance Visual Arts lesson-Studying paintings of the Battle at Fort McHenry To learn and perform a colonial dance from 1814.
To prepare the singing of Patriotic songs for the Star-Spangled Banner Day school assembly on 9/12/14.ģ. To learn about the Battle at Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key and the writing of the song The Star-Spangled Banner through multiple methods.Ģ. Students will study paintings about the Battle at Fort McHenry in art class, learn about Francis Scott Key and the story of The Star-Spangled Banner and to sing the song in music class, and learn a colonial dance from 1814 in physical education class.ġ. 2nd grade lesson by Jennifer Butler, Northwoods Fine Arts AcademyĢnd grade students will be learning about the Battle at Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, and the composition of The Star-Spangled Banner through music, art, and dance.