For the national story celebrated by America250, who wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner”?

For the national story celebrated by America250, Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Key wrote the poem that became the anthem after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on September 14, 1814. He saw a large U.S. flag still flying over the fort at dawn, inspiring the poem’s central image.

The original poem was titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and was published in 1814. Its words were later set to the melody of “The Anacreontic Song,” an English club song composed by John Stafford Smith. The lyrics and music therefore came from different people.

Congress officially designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the U.S. national anthem on March 3, 1931. Although the song has four stanzas, public performances usually use only the first. The flag that inspired Key is preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.