On September 14, 1814 a lawyer by the name of Francis Scott Key wrote a famous poem that is forever remembered by millions. We sing it at church, at baseball games, or any special event. It is called the National Anthem.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key’s friend was taken prisoner by the British. This is during the War of 1812. The British’s next target was Baltimore. Francis Scott Key headed out for Baltimore and made it. He went out on a rowboat to a British War Ship to negotiate for the prisoners to be released. The British said everyday they would exchange only so much prisoners. With excitement, Francis Scott-Key went down below and there was a cargo ship full of hundreds of humans in filth. Francis Scott-Key said “Men, Tonight you will be taken out of your chains, out of your filth.”
Francis Scott-Key went back up and there he was stopped by the ship commander. The commander said “That won’t matter.”
Francis Scott-Key said “Why?”
The commander said “Well tonight your men will lay down that flag or if you will scan the horizon.” Scott-Key saw thousands of British war ships. The commander continued ny saying “That’s the whole British war fleet and if you don’t lay that flag down we will bomb that fort.”
Scott-Key said “You can’t bomb that fort that-that’s a large fort it’s full of women in children!” Then the hours went by and the British war fleet unleashed. Later the prisoners asked Scott-Key “What’s that sound?”
“That’s bombing.” Scott-Key said and then informed them what’s going on.
“Well keep us updated,” said the prisoners. One to two hours into the bombing the prisoners said this prayer, “God keep that flag flying….” as George Washington said, “The thing that sets the American apart from others is that he will die on his feet before he dies on his knees.” The British commander said, “YOUR MEN ARE CRAZY! IT’S CONFIRMED THAT FLAG HAS BEEN HIT DIRECTLY AGAIN AND AGAIN, I don’t understand.” After the smoke cleared, the flag was still standing! The pole was bent but it was still standing and the thing that kept that flag up were bodies of 5 soldiers. Then Scott-Key wrote the famous Star Spangled Banner.
by Kaiden Bayer