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Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, in western Maryland.
His family was very wealthy and owned an estate called "Terra Rubra."

When Francis was 10 years old, his parents sent him to grammar school in
Annapolis. After graduating at the age of 17, he began to study law in
Annapolis while working with his uncle's law firm. By 1805, he had a well-established
law practice of his own in Georgetown, a suburb of Washington, D.C. By 1814,
he had appeared many times before the Supreme Court and had been
appointed the United States District Attorney.

Francis Scott Key was a deeply religious man. At one time in his life, he almost
gave up his law practice to enter the ministry. Instead, he resolved to become
involved in the Episcopal Church. Because of his religious beliefs, Key was
strongly opposed to the War of 1812. However, due to his deep love for his country,
he did serve for a brief time in the Georgetown field artillery in 1813.

During the War of 1812, Dr. William Beanes, a close friend of Key's was taken
prisoner by the British. Since Key was a well-known lawyer, he was asked to assist
in efforts to get Dr. Beanes released. Knowing that the British were in the
Chesapeake Bay, Key left for Baltimore. There Key met with Colonel John Skinner,
a government agent who arranged for prisoner exchanges. Together, they set out
on a small boat to meet the Royal Navy

On board the British flagship, the officers were very kind to Key and Skinner.
They agreed to release Dr. Beanes. However, the three men were not permitted to return
to Baltimore until after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The three Americans were placed
aboard the American ship and waited behind the British fleet. From a distance of
approximately eight miles, Key and his friends watched the British bombard Fort McHenry.

After 25 hours of continuous bombing, the British decided to leave since they were unable
to destroy the fort as they had hoped. Realizing that the British had ceased the attack,
Key looked toward the fort to see if the flag was still there. To his relief, the flag was still flying! Quickly,
he wrote down the words to a poem which was soon handed out as a handbill under the title
"Defence of Fort McHenry." It was renamed "The Star- Spangled Banner" by an adoring public.
It became a popular patriotic song. It was not until 1931, however, that it became our national anthem.

After the war, Francis Scott Key continued to live a very religious life. He was well-liked by his
friends and was active in society. On January 11, 1843, while visiting his daughter in Baltimore,
Key died of pleurisy. To honor the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," there are monuments at:
Fort McHenry; on Eutaw Street in Baltimore; at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland; and
at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

Oh, 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 thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when 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!