1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,639 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: show that flies the flag of history every day of 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: the week. I'm Gabe Luzier, and today we're looking back 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: on the Battle of Baltimore, a turning point both in 6 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: the War of eighteen twelve and in the life of 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: a lawyer with a penchant for poetry. The day was 8 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: September fourteenth, eighteen fourteen. Francis Scott Key penned the poem 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: that later became America's national anthem. The Washington, DC attorney 10 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: and amateur poet was inspired to write the verse after 11 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: As dawn broke the following morning. Key was moved by 13 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: the site of a lone US flag still flying over 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: the battered fort, something which he took as a symbol 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: of the young nations endurance and courage. Originally titled The 16 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: Defense of Fort me Henry, Key's poem was later set 17 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 1: to music and renamed The Star Spangled Banner. Less than 18 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: three decades after Britain had recognized the independence of the 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: United States, the two countries found themselves at war once again, 20 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: this time over a series of trade disagreements and maritime disputes. 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: The War of eighteen twelve started out well for the US, 22 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: as Great Britain's military forces were already busy fighting in 23 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: ongoing war with France that allowed the American Navy to 24 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: rack up several key victories in the Atlantic Ocean and 25 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: on Lake Erie. However, once Napoleon's armies were defeated in 26 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: the spring of eighteen fourteen, Britain focused its full military 27 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: might on the United States and quickly gained the upper hand. Then, 28 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: in late August, British troops pressed their advantage by marching 29 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: into Washington, d c. And setting fire to the White House, 30 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: the capital, and many other government buildings. Americans had sought 31 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: to use the war as a way to reaffirm the 32 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: nation's independence on the world stage, but with its capital 33 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: city in flames, the future of the fledgling Republic was 34 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: more in doubt than ever. That sense of uncertainty was 35 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: compounded a few weeks later when the British set their 36 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: sights on the vital seaport of Baltimore, Maryland. The city's 37 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: harbor was defended by Fort McHenry, and on September thirteenth, 38 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, British warships launched a merciless, twenty five hour 39 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: assault on that stronghold. Americans knew the fate of Baltimore 40 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: would determine that of the entire Union, so they anxiously 41 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: waited to see if Fort McHenry could possibly withstand such 42 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: a punishing onslaught. One especially nervous onlooker was thirty five 43 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: year old Francis Scott Key. He had been dispatched to 44 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: Baltimore by President James Madison on a mission to negotiate 45 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: the release of doctor William Beans, a prominent civilian surgeon 46 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: who had been captured at the Battle of Bladensburg. He 47 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: arrived one week before the bombardment began, and on September seventh, 48 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: he and fellow lawyer John Skinner boarded the flagship of 49 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: the British fleet and hopes of securing the doctor's safe passage. 50 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: Their effort proved successful, but the British had one condition. 51 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: Since Key and his companions now had knowledge that the 52 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: British were mounting an impending attack, they couldn't be allowed 53 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: to return to shore until after Fort McHenry had been destroyed. Instead, He, 54 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: Skinner and doctor Beans were returned to the American ship 55 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: on which they had arrived and were guarded there by 56 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: the British for the next several days. Then, on September thirteenth, 57 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: he watched in horror as the barrage of Fort McHenry 58 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: began roughly eight miles away. It seemed as though mother 59 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: Earth had opened, he later wrote, and was vomiting shot 60 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone. The 61 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: firefight lasted all day and all night, and given the 62 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: scope and ferocity of the attack, he was all but 63 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: certain that British would be victorious. But they weren't. In 64 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: the early morning of September fourteenth, he could just make 65 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: out an American flag in the distance. It was still 66 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: flying over Fort McHenry, a sure sign that the American 67 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: troops had stood their ground and weathered the assault. After 68 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: a full day of shelling the fort, the British had 69 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: been unable to destroy it, and now, with their ammunition spent, 70 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: they were withdrawing from Baltimore. Not only had the United 71 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: States survived the attack, it had halted the enemy advance. 72 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: Francis Scott Key was deeply moved by the realization that 73 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: his country would endure after all. And as he put it, quote, 74 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: then in that hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, my 75 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: heart spoke. He quickly pulled a letter from his pocket, 76 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: and on the back of it he scribbled the first 77 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: verse of a poem of victory. Oh say, can you 78 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we 79 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and 80 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we 81 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: watched were so gallantly streaming, And the rocket's red glare, 82 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night 83 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: that our flag was still there. Oh say, does that 84 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the 85 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: free and the home of the brave. Once he was 86 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: back ashore in Baltimore, Francis Scott Key wrote three more verses, 87 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: though only the first is commonly known today. The lawyer 88 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: turned poet didn't give his wa a title, but his 89 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: brother in law, the commander of a militia at Fort McHenry, 90 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: submitted it for publication under the title Defense of Fort Mahenry. 91 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: Within a week, Key's poem had been printed in two 92 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: Baltimore newspapers, and by mid October it had appeared in 93 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: nearly twenty others in cities all along the East coast. 94 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: Then a few weeks after that, a Baltimore music store 95 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: printed the verses with sheet music under a more expressive title, 96 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: The Star Spangled Banner. The song's melody had actually been 97 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: chosen by Key himself, as he had noted on the 98 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: first printed copies of the verses that the words were 99 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: meant to be sung to the tune of to Enacreon 100 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: in Heaven. Ironically, that song was a popular staple in 101 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: British pubs, and was even used as the de facto 102 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: theme song of an upper class gentleman's club in London. 103 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: The song was written in seventeen seventy five by John 104 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: Stafford Smith and was meant as a tribute the ancient 105 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: Greek poet Anacreon, who was himself a notorious lover of 106 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: wine and music. To Anacreon in Heaven had made its 107 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: way to American shores some years earlier, and Key was 108 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: well acquainted with it, having already used it to accompany 109 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: a different poem that he'd written in eighteen oh five. 110 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: And if it seemed strange that Americans should adopt a 111 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: British drinking song as a patriotic anthem, remember that the 112 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: precedent had already been set by Yankee Doodle, a song 113 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: which began life as a British insult before being co 114 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: opted by Americans as a defiant show of national pride. 115 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: In the wake of the War of eighteen twelve, both 116 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: songs Yankee Doodle and the Star Spangled Banner were increasingly 117 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: common at patriotic Celebrationske's song, in particular, took on new 118 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: significance during the Civil War, when it was used as 119 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: an anthem for Union soldiers. The song's popularity continued to 120 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: grow throughout the nineteenth century, and by the aigeen nineties, 121 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: the US military had adopted it for ceremonial purposes, requiring 122 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: that it be played anytime the American flag was raised 123 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: or lowered. Clearly, the Star Spangled Banner took on an 124 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: increasingly distinguished role in American culture, yet it didn't become 125 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: the national anthem until more than one hundred years after 126 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: it was written. The idea had been toyed with for decades. 127 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: By that point, but it wasn't until March third, nineteen 128 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: thirty one, that the designation was finally made official. From 129 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: that point on, the song would be played or sung 130 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: at government offices, schools, and sporting events all across the country. 131 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: Or you know, at least the first verse, I'm gay, 132 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: Bluesier And hopefully you now know a little more about 133 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,079 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 134 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 135 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any 136 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can always pass those along by 137 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 138 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you 139 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: for listening. Well, I'll see you back here again tomorrow 140 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 1: for another day in history class.