Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave.

O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

These are the last lines of the first verse of The Star-Spangled Banner. The Star-Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key, when he was captured in 1812. He wrote The Star-Spangled Banner while the war of 1812, against the British went on. It was later published in 1931. By a Joint Resolution of Congress, the flag is now flown continuously over the monument marking the site of Francis Scott Key’s birthplace. Francis Scott Key was born on August 9,1779 in Frederick County, Maryland (which is now a part of Carroll County) . He was born at Terra Rubra Farm, Carroll County, Chamber, Maryland. He was educated at St.John’s College, where he trained to become a lawyer. He had six sons and five daughters. His wife’s name was Mary and his father’s name was John Key. He died in Maryland, August 11, 1843. Francis Scott Key was a young lawyer who lived in Georgetown. Francis Scott Key was also an amateur writer, who always wrote little poems on backs of letters. Francis was one of the best attorneys in Washington D.C., which is where he worked. In 1812 the British attacked. They had come up near Fort McHenry, that is where they attacked from. They had come up close enough for Baltimore to see them. They had planned to surround Fort McHenry and then attack. The British formed a blockade ( a blockade is when ships surround a certain place that they are going to attack). When the people in Baltimore realized that the British were going to do a blockade, they decided to sink their tugboats, rowboats, and other small ships. The British realized that they couldn’t travel over the sunken boats so they decided that they would attack from where they were. The only modern weapon that they had were bombs. Only a few of the bombs made it and, because of the distance between Fort McHenry and where the British were. The British captured a man named Dr. William Beanes. The family of Dr. William asked Francis Scott Key if he would help Dr. William get out of captivity. Francis agreed. He went to try to help save his friend. He persuaded the British and he thought that they would let Dr. William go when they heard the British say that they were going to do a sneak attack on Baltimore. Francis knew that the British would not let Dr. William or him go. Baltimore was in big trouble and there was nothing that anyone could do. The British had planned all along not to let Dr. William go, for fear that he would go about and tell Baltimore their plans. So Francis and Dr.William were held captive on the ship while the British bombarded Fort Mchenry. Francis was even the last person to see the last of the British fire the last bomb. As Francis saw the bombardment, he pulled out a letter and began to write on the back of it. What he wrote on the back of the letter is now America’s National Anthem; The Star-Spangled Banner. He had woken up the next morning to see that the American Flag was still there. The American flag was made by Betsy Ross. The flag was 30 by 42 feet and cost $405.90. There were 8 red stripes and 7 white stripes. These stripes were 2 feet wide. The flag was distinguishable from a far distance. Francis Scott Key will always be remembered all throughout America. There is one state that will remember him the most. That small and special state is Maryland. Maryland is the home of Francis Scott Key and always will be.

This is my picture of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

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Patterson, Lillie. Francis Scott Key, Poet and Patriot. Philadelphia:Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

"Francis Scott Key" <www. francisscottkey.com>. 18 May 2001.

Kroll, Steven and Dan Andreasen. The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner By the Dawn's Early Light New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 1994.

Meyer, Sam. Paradoxes of Fame The Francis Scott Key Story. Annapolis, MD: Eastwind Publishing, 1995.

Spier, Peter. The Star Spangled Banner. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publidhing Group Inc., 1992.

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