The United States National Anthem

On the morning of September 14, 1814, a Maryland lawyer named FRANCIS SCOTT KEY stood on the deck of an American truce ship in the Chesapeake Bay and watched the American flag still flying over FORT MCHENRY. The British had bombarded the fort through the entire night of September 13–14 during the WAR OF 1812, and Key had spent those dark hours not knowing if the United States would survive the attack. When dawn broke and he saw the STAR-SPANGLED BANNER still waving, he was so moved that he began writing a POEM on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. That poem would eventually become the national anthem of the United States, one of the most recognized songs in the world. The events of that single night set in motion a cultural and patriotic tradition that Americans still observe more than two hundred years later.