The U.S National Anthem

The United States National Anthem was composed by Francis Scott Key in September of 1814. Francis Scott Key composed it " In Defense of Fort McHenry". Congress proclaimed it as the U.S National Anthem in 1931. In 1814 , about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned , British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid.It was proclaimed by Congress in 1931. It was written because Beanes and Key were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on September 14th , Key noted that the huge American flag , which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum , was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem titled Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was eventually set to music that had originally been written by English composer John Stafford Smith for a song titled " The Anacreontic Song." The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by the public demand for the next century or so , but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance , and after that it was repeated for every game. Finally , on March 3rd, 1931 , the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem , one hundred and sixteen years after it was the first written.