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Everybody in the United States has heard the song about the star-spangled banner. Nearly everybody has sung it. It was written by Francis Scott Key.

Key was a young lawyer. In the War of 1812 he fought with the American army. The British landed soldiers in Maryland. At Bladensburg, they fought and beat the Americans. Key was in this battle on the American side.

After the battle the British army took Washington, and burned the public buildings. Key had a friend who was taken prisoner by the British. He was on one of the British ships. Key went to the ships with a flag of truce. A flag of truce is a white flag. It is carried in war when one side sends a message to the other.

When Key got to the British ships, they were sailing to Baltimore. They were going to try to take Baltimore. The British commander would not let Key go back. He was afraid that he would let the Americans know where the ships were going.

Key was kept a kind of prisoner while the ships attacked Baltimore. The ships tried to take the city by firing at it from the water. The British army tried to take the city on the land side.

The ships did their worst firing at night. They tried to take the little fort near the city.

Key could see the battle. He watched the little fort. He was afraid that the men in it would give up. He was afraid that the fort would be broken down by the cannon balls.

The British fired bombshells and rockets at the fort. When these burst, they made a light. By this light Key could see that the little fort was still standing. He could see the flag still waving over it. He tells this in his song in these words:

"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

Key did not know whether the fort had been knocked down or not. He could not see whether the flag was still flying or not. He thought that the Americans might have given up. He felt what he wrote in the song:

"Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?"

When the break of day came, Key looked toward the fort. It was still standing. There was a flag flying over it. It grew lighter. He could see that it was the American flag. His feelings are told in two lines of the song:

"Tis the star-spangled banner, oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!"

Key was full of joy. He took an old letter from his pocket. The back of this letter had no writing on it. Here he wrote the song about the star-spangled banner.

The British commander now let Key go ashore. When he got to Baltimore, he wrote out his song. He gave it to a friend. This friend took it to a printing office. But the printers had all turned soldiers. They had all gone to defend the city.

There was one boy left in the office. He knew how to print. He took the verses and printed them on a broad sheet of paper.

The printed song was soon in the hands of the soldiers around Baltimore. It was sung in the streets. It was sung in the theaters. It traveled all over the country. Everybody learned to sing:

"Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just; And this be our motto–'In God is our trust'– And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

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Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Francis Scott Key wrote a famous American song called 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Key fought in the War of 1812, when the British landed soldiers in Maryland. The Americans lost the battle at Bladensburg, and the British took Washington. Key was sent to the British with a white flag of truce. When he delivered the message, the British took him prisoner. Key remained in captivity on a British ship while the British attacked Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The British fired bombshells and rockets at the fort, which exploded in the night sky. Key saw the American flag waving over the fort in the light of the bombs. When British ships stopped firing, Key despaired that the fort had fallen. When the sun came up, Key saw the American flag still flying over the fort. Filled with joy, Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' while still aboard the British ship. The British freed Key, and Key printed and distributed the song all over America. 'The Star-Spangled Banner' became the American national anthem, and Americans still sing the song today.

Vocabulary

Maryland: A state on the eastern coast of the United States of America.
Truce: An agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting.
Bombshell: An explosive shell fired from large guns.
Ashore: To move onto the shore from the sea.

Concepts

A truce may be called to stop fighting to give the two sides time to compromise and work out a peace deal.

  1. When you compromise with someone else, you get some of the things you want and the other side gets some of the things that they want.
  2. It is often said that a true compromise occurs when neither side is happy.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Color the Story   

  • Click the crayon above, and complete page 38 of 'History Coloring Pages for First Grade.'
  • Count the number of stars on the flag in the coloring page. What do you think the number of stars on the flag represents? (The number of stars represents the fifty states of the United States of America.)

Activity 3: Study an Artifact from the Story

  • See below a picture of the actual flag that flew above Fort McHenry while Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'
  • Find the two people in the picture. The people put the enormous size of the flag into perspective.
  • How many stars are on the flag in the picture? Why are there not fifty stars? (This flag has 15 stars. There were actually 18 states at the time this flag was flown. The law was later updated to require a star for each state. Today, the number of stars equals the number of states.)

Activity 4: Map the Story

  • In this chapter, the British landed soldiers in Maryland. Zoom in and find the state of Maryland (MD) in the picture of the continental United States below.

Activity 5: Hear Sounds from the Story

  • See below a video. The picture in the video is of an American flag flying over Fort McHenry, the fort attacked by the British while Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'
  • Listen to the sound of the bombs in the video. Imagine how terrifying it must be to fight in a battle with bombs falling all around you.
  • Listen to the US Army Bands play 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

Activity 6: Sing the Story - Verse 1 of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'

  • O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
  • What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
  • Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
  • O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
  • And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
  • Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
  • O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
  • O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Review

Question 1

Why was Key sent to the British carrying a white flag?
1 / 4

Answer 1

Key was sent to offer a truce.
1 / 4

Question 2

What did the British do after Key arrived with the white flag?
2 / 4

Answer 2

The British imprisoned him.
2 / 4

Question 3

Where did Key write 'The Star-Spangled Banner?'
3 / 4

Answer 3

Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' on a British ship outside Baltimore.
3 / 4

Question 4

What inspired Key to write the song?
4 / 4

Answer 4

Key saw the American flag illuminated by bombs exploding. The bombs stopped, and Key believed the fort was lost. But when the sun came up, the flag still flew and the fort still stood.
4 / 4

  1. Why was Key sent to the British carrying a white flag? Key was sent to offer a truce.
  2. What did the British do after Key arrived with the white flag? The British imprisoned him.
  3. Where did Key write 'The Star-Spangled Banner?' Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' on a British ship outside Baltimore.
  4. What inspired Key to write the song? Key saw the American flag illuminated by bombs exploding. The bombs stopped, and Key believed the fort was lost. But when the sun came up, the flag still flew and the fort still stood.

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