USA Flag Coloring Pages 01!

Kids History of The Star Spangled Banner

The Revolutionary War against England occurred between 1775 and 1783. The War of 1812 against the British was fought between 1812 and 1815. In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland.

Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and poet, visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes. Dr. Beanes had been captured during the Washington raid.

The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry in Maryland. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted the huge American flag was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The flag now hangs in the Smithsonian American History Museum.

The sight of the billowing flag inspired him to write a poem titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry". The poem was eventually set to music. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so. It became more accepted as the national anthem of the United States during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War (World War I). The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance. After that it was repeated for every game.

Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.