09/13/2026
๐บ๐ธ๐ "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there"
On the night of September 13โ14, 1814, a Maryland lawyer watched a fort refuse to fall โ and wrote the words that became our national anthem.
Francis Scott Key had gone aboard a British warship to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes but he wasn't allowed to leave. From roughly eight miles below the fort, he watched sixteen British ships bombard Fort McHenry for twenty-five hours, he dreaded the sight at dawn being the British flag flying over Baltimore.
When he saw the American flag still aloft, he wrote the first verse on the back of a letter.
"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, / Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
He titled it "The Defence of Fort M'Henry," and it was set to the tune of a popular song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." The failed bombardment ended the British assault on Baltimore โ a city that had spent a year preparing its own defenses. In 1931, Congress made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States.
A self-governing people defended a harbor no monarch had ordered them to hold. That is what consent of the governed looks like in practice.
Two hundred and twelve years later, that flag is still sung about โ this week, by the next generation.
Constitution Day Livestream from Mount Vernon โ winning song performances, special guests, and the announcement of our 2026 We The Future Contest winners.
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Thursday, September 17
๐ 1:00โ2:30 PM ET
๐ Learn more:
https://us.constitutingamerica.org/ConstitutionDayLiveStream
America250 Freedom 250
Sources: Library of Congress (first printing of "Defence of Fort M'Henry"), National Park Service โ Fort McHenry, Gilder Lehrman Institute, American Battlefield Trust, Britannica.
