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Previous Issues > July 2007 > All About Art > Flag Inspires A Writer
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 All About Art
Flag Inspires a Writer
published: July 2007
By Tamar Burris, Contributing Writer
Email Author
Francis Scott Key was a lawyer and a poet who wrote one of the most important songs in American history The Star Spangled Banner. In 1931, the song became the U.S. national anthem.
Francis Scott Key was born in Maryland on August 9, 1780. His father was a judge who had fought in the American Revolution. While Francis had wanted to be an Episcopalian minister, after graduating from school, he decided instead to become a lawyer. Although never a minister, Francis remained deeply religious throughout his life.
By the early 1800s, Francis was living in Georgetown, Maryland, with his wife and 11 children. A successful lawyer, he was soon appointed U.S. District Attorney. In 1812, war between the United States and Great Britain began. After capturing the U.S. capital in 1814, the British planned to invade Baltimore. During this time, Francis learned that troops had taken his friend, a man named Dr. William Beanes, prisoner. Waving a white flag of truce, Francis and Col. John Skinner met with British naval officers to negotiate the doctors release.
The doctor was released, but the officers decided to keep the three aboard the British ship H.M.S. Surprise until after the invasion of Baltimore because the men knew about their attack plans.
 On September 13, 1814, the three men anxiously watched from the ship as British bombs burst in the air above Fort McHenry. As morning approached, they searched the sky to see if the U.S. flag was still flying. And it was! The sight of their flag waving inspired Francis to write a poem about the battle on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. A short time later the poem was published in many U.S. newspapers, and a tune was added to it. In October 1814, an actor sang it in public, and the song became known as The Star Spangled Banner.
Francis died on January 11, 1843, in Baltimore. The original copy he wrote of his song is still kept in the Library of Congress.
Written by Tamar Burris, a former elementary school teacher who now works as a freelance writer and curriculum developer for PBS, the Discovery Channel and other education-related companies. Sources: Francis Scott Key, Wikipedia; Museum of History: Francis Scott Key, www.francisscottkey.org; National Park Service: Fort McHenry lesson, www.nps.gov; www.USFlag.org.
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