The Star-spangled Banner

The Star-spangled Banner

There was more to Francis Scott Key than just one song.

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY was born in Maryland on August 1, 1779, the son of an army officer in the Revolutionary War. He received his law degree and opened his first practice in Frederick, Maryland, in 1801. In 1802 he married and then moved to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., to enter legal practice with his uncle. He worked in Washington for the rest of his life and served as the United States district attorney for three terms, until his death in 1843.

During the War of 1812 the British occupied Washington, D.C., and set fire to the Capitol and the White House. The British then began advancing on Baltimore. Key was authorized by President James Madison to help negotiate the release of a Washington physician, William Beanes, who had been taken prisoner by the British and was being held aboard the ship Tonnant in the Potomac.

Key went by sloop, the Minden, out to the Tonnant and negotiated successfully for the release of Dr. Beanes, but they were not allowed to return to land because the British fleet was preparing an imminent attack on Baltimore. Key and the others on the ship watched the British naval bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Throughout the night of September 13, 1814, Key stayed on deck, watching “the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” hoping and praying the American fort would stand. At “dawn’s early light,” Key saw the American flag still flying and was overcome with joy—“the flag was still there!” He began writing “The Star-Spangled Banner” on an envelope on his way to shore and edited it in his hotel room that night.

The poem was printed in the Baltimore American on September 21, 1814. Set to the tune of a well-known British drinking song, it soon gained nationwide popularity. But it was not until 1931 that Congress officially adopted it as the national anthem of the United States of America.

This song and story are familiar to most Americans. Less well known is the fact that Francis Scott Key was a dedicated Christian. He seriously considered becoming a clergyman in the Episcopal Church. He was a lay reader in the church and a faithful visitor of the sick. Key was one of the founders of the American Sunday School Union and served on its board for many years. While he was on the board, they launched the 1830 Mississippi Valley Campaign, which sought to establish a Sunday school in every town in a 1.3 million-square-mile area within two years. Key worked actively in Washington to publicize the Mississippi campaign and raise funds for it. The campaign actually took fifty years to complete—with 61,297 Sunday schools started, reaching 2,650,784 pupils.

Francis Scott Key also wrote the hymn “Lord, with Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee”:

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,

For the bliss Thy love bestows,

For the pardoning grace that saves me,

And the peace that from it flows;

Help O God, My weak endeavor;

This dull soul to rapture raise;

Thou must light the flame, or never

Can my love be warmed to praise.

Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,

Wretched wanderer, far astray;

Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee

From the paths of death away.

Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling,

Him who saw thy guilt-born fear,

And, the light of hope revealing,

Bade the blood-stained Cross appear.

Reflection

Francis Scott Key was deeply committed to God and country both in word and in action. Do you take seriously your responsibilities as both a citizen and church member?

Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.

Joshua 22:5