A relative newcomer
Today’s trivia question: how long has The Star Spangled Banner been the national anthem?
Oh, most of us genealogists who are history geeks know the words were written during the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor by the British during the War of 1812.
It was in fact on this day in 1814 that Francis Scott Key — a Maryland lawyer — wrote the words on a ship about eight miles from the city after watching the British shell the fort for hours — and fail to take down the American flag flying there.1
The music is another story. It’s an English song originally written around 1777 and the identity of the composer has been a matter of some contention for years. A thorough analysis by William Lichtenwanger for the Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress credits the work to John Stafford Smith (1750-1836), and suggests it was written for an English gentlemen’s club.2
And, of course, it’s been described in unflattering terms: “as patriotic as ‘The Stein Song,’ as singable as Die Walküre, and as American as ‘God Save the Queen.’”3
Yeah, well, it isn’t as easy to sing as — say — America the Beautiful.
So when did it become the national anthem?
Not for a very very long time after it was written.
In fact, until 1931, the United States didn’t have a national anthem:
between 1911 and 1931 over forty bills and joint resolutions were introduced … It took twenty years and much agitation to accomplish … But … on March 3, 1931, President Hoover signed Public Law 823 of the 71st Congress. The law proclaimed: “That the composition consisting of the words and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America.”4
So… when you’re writing that family history… you might not want to suggest that the folks at the family reunion in — say — 1870 sang the national anthem.
Because at that point there wasn’t one.
SOURCES
- “This Day in History: Key pens Star-Spangled Banner,” History.com (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history : accessed 13 Sep 2018). ↩
- William Lichtenwanger, “The Music of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’: From Ludgate Hill to Capitol Hill,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, July 1977, PDF reprint, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/ : accessed 13 Sep 2018). ↩
- Charles Braun, “Let’s Waive‘ The Star-Spangled Banner,’” Fact 2, no. 1 (Jan-Feb 1965): 3-7, cited in Lichtenwanger, “The Music of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’: From Ludgate Hill to Capitol Hill.” ↩
- Lichtenwanger, “The Music of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’: From Ludgate Hill to Capitol Hill.” ↩
As a professional musician, one thing I find very curious about the law establishing the “Star Spangled Banner” as our national anthem is that it does not contain the actual musical score anywhere. I learned this at an excellent seminar given by Mark Clague, who is an Associate Professor of Music, American Culture, and African American Studies at the University of Michigan. He is also on the Board of the “Star-Spangled Music Foundation”. The Foundation web site, http://starspangledmusic.org/, includes articles, blogs and teaching aids. It also sells the “Star Spangled Songbook” and a CD entitled “Poets and Patriots.”
The Pledge of Allegiance, is even newer than the national anthem. It was first introduced in the 1890s and wasn’t officially adopted by Congress until WWII (1942). Even then, the words “under God” weren’t part of it. They were first introduced in the1950s and millions of Americans who are alive today can remember having to relearn the pledge after “one nation” was officially changed to “one nation under God” in 1954.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is frankly awful, both words and music. What were they thinking of? With so many lovely, singable patriotic songs to choose from, they had to pick this one. I’m all for dumping it and it’s glorification of battle rather than what we are trying to accomplish as a nation. I will stand for it but I will not sing it. As for the so-called pledge, I received permission from my parents to not say it after the words were added. It seemed to them (and to me) a direct contradiction of the separation of church and state. As a Quaker, I still do not take oaths, nor will I pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth. I am an American, and I honor the principles of democracy, dignity, and human rights that have been our stated goal since the Revolution. We stumble at times, but I still believe they are achievable if we continue to work toward them.
I’m also told that when Congress was considering the “Star Spangled Banner” as a choice for a national anthem, the objections to its singability were overcome when someone brought in a trained opera singer to sing it for the committee to demonstrate how easy it was to sing . . . .
To describe Francis Scott Key as “a Maryland lawyer” is like calling Henry Ford an automobile mechanic, of Andrew Carnegie an ironmonger. Francis Scott Key served as a United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and (genealogically-speaking) was the brother-in-law of Chief Justice Taney.
At the time he wrote the poem, Key was just a Maryland lawyer. He didn’t become US Attorney until decades later.
I will tell you one thing, when you are serving in the military stationed overseas and you stand for “That Anthem” facing our beautiful flag, you get tears in your eyes and you stand straighter and taller. That song represents a little bit of home to those serving on foreign soil. I have experienced it.