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The Star-Spangled Banner began as a four-stanza poem written by Francis Scott Key after he watched the British bombard Fort McHenry in September 1814. Key set his words to an existing melody, “Anacreon in Heaven.” Congress made the song the United States national anthem in 1931; today, performances usually use only the poem’s first stanza.
Who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?
Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown lawyer and poet, wrote the poem originally titled “Defence of Fort McHenry.” The Library of Congress dates it to September 14, 1814, the morning after Key watched the British bombardment of the fort. Library of Congress: The Star-Spangled Banner
What inspired the poem?
Key had watched the British attack Fort McHenry through the night of September 13–14 during the War of 1812. At dawn, he saw an American flag still flying above the fort. That sight became the poem’s central image. President Harry S. Truman later recounted the episode in a 1948 proclamation. National Archives: Proclamation 2795
The flag was a real object, not just a poetic symbol: the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History identifies it as a 15-star, 15-stripe garrison flag made by Mary Pickersgill in 1813 for Fort McHenry. Smithsonian: The Star-Spangled Banner
What tune is the anthem sung to?
Key wrote new words for the pre-existing melody “Anacreon in Heaven,” composed by John Stafford Smith and associated with London’s Anacreontic Society. The poem’s first printing included instructions to sing it to that tune. Key wrote the lyrics, not the music. The Library of Congress cautions against reducing the tune’s history to the popular claim that it was simply a drinking song. Library of Congress: The Star-Spangled Banner
When did it become the national anthem?
Congress designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” the national anthem in 1931, long after the poem had circulated widely and functioned as a de facto anthem. The Library of Congress’s legislative guide says President Herbert Hoover signed the act on March 2, 1931; another Library of Congress historical page gives March 3 as the designation date. These sources differ by a day, so the safest concise answer is that the anthem was formally designated in 1931. Library of Congress: The Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 · Library of Congress: Today in History—March 3
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Why is only one stanza usually sung?
The familiar anthem is the poem’s opening stanza, beginning “O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light.” Key’s original poem had four stanzas, but the first is the one traditionally used for anthem performances. The Smithsonian reproduces the historic text and discusses its publication and early popularity. Smithsonian: The Star-Spangled Banner
The rest of the poem is not merely an expanded version of the familiar ceremonial song. One stanza includes the phrase “the hireling and slave,” wording that has prompted controversy and differing historical interpretations. The Library of Congress identifies that language as part of the poem’s contested history. It is important to distinguish the full 1814 poem from the first stanza ordinarily sung as the anthem; transcriptions may number the stanzas differently. Library of Congress: The Star-Spangled Banner
How the poem, flag, and anthem fit together
The story has three distinct stages: a flag made for Fort McHenry in 1813; Key’s poem, written after the bombardment in 1814 and paired with an existing tune; and the song’s formal status as the national anthem, granted by Congress in 1931. The physical flag’s survival inspired the poem’s image, while the song’s later national role developed over time.
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