Like so many famous songs of yore, "The Star-Spangled Banner" started as a poem, called “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812.

Rather than address claims against the song, it would be my pleasure to look at what makes our national anthem so great.

Boiled down to its essence, "The Star-Spangled Banner" is a song about survival and resilience, about bravery and hope. The first stanza of Francis Scott Key's 1814 poem, as sung by generations of ...

The poem is a form of art and should be appreciated as art, not dismissed because of the personal beliefs of the author. Secondly, look at the song itself. The Star Spangled Banner is part of a ...

By now you’ve probably heard the claim that America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” is an expression ... In Robert Burns’s battle poem “Scots Wha Hae,” written in ...

This flag, which measured 30 feet by 42 feet, was the original Star-Spangled Banner that inspired the lines of Francis Scott Key’s renowned poem, later to become America’s national anthem.

“The Star Spangled Banner” has long been derided as a poor ... Francis Scott Key may have immortalized this unspoken sentiment in his poem as he watched his country’s spangled banner fly ...