Lesson 1: The History of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
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Lesson 1: The History of
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
Objectives
• Students will learn to sing the first verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
• Students will learn the history of the song and the circumstances under which
the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” were written.
Materials
• Copy of “Letter to a Dear Friend”
• Copy of “Defence of Fort McHenry”
• Student copies of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Teacher copy of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Keyboard (optional)
• Recording of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Overhead projector and copy of “Letter to a Dear Friend”
• Overhead copy of “Defence of Fort McHenry”
Prior Knowledge and Experiences
• Location of Maryland on a U.S. map
• Familiarity with flag used during 1814 (15 stripes, 15 stars as opposed to
current 13 stripes, 50 stars)
• Music Vocabulary
national anthem
a song that is formally recognized by a country’s government as the
official national song
patriotic song or music
music sung or played to show love and pride for one’s country
Connections to the National Standards
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
5. Reading and notating music
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9 “The Star-Spangled Banner” 1678. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines
outside the arts
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture
Procedures
1. Explain to students that they will be learning about “The Star-Spangled
Banner.”
2. Ask students if they know what a person is supposed to do when they hear the
national anthem. (stand respectfully and put their hands over their hearts)
3. Have students stand as you play the piano score or as you play a recording of
“The Star-Spangled Banner.”
4. Ask students when and where they have sung or have heard others sing or play
“The Star-Spangled Banner” (before sports events, at patriotic concerts, on
television, before citizenship ceremonies, etc.).
5. Accompany students as they sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
6. Ask them if they find the song difficult or easy to sing; some may say that the
lyrics are difficult or that the melody “goes low and very high.”
7. Ask students if they know the story behind “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
8. Distribute copies of the “Letter to a Dear Friend” or show it on the overhead
projector. Tell students to pretend they are young teenagers in 1814. Tell
them they have received a letter from their friend Darby who lives in
Baltimore, Maryland. You may wish to point out to students the British
spelling of “defense” that was used in the original poem.
9. Allow students time to read and form opinions about the letter.
10. Invite students to share the story as they understand it.
11. Have students sing the first verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner” again.
12. Distribute or show on the overhead a copy of the complete poem.
13. Discuss the action portrayed in the poem.
14. Sing the first verse again.
Indicators of Success
• Students will be able to sing the first verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
• Students will be able to share facts they learned about Francis Scott Key and
the events occurring at the time he wrote the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled
Banner.”
• Monitor how students learn to sing the national anthem and the manner in
which they take part and add to the discussions (informal, subjective assess-
ment).
Comments and Additional Material
• Have students visit the Fort McHenry Web site, www.nps.gov/fomc/. This
will enable them to enhance their knowledge and encourage them to do
research on their own.
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
168 Lessons in American Music All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9• Encourage students to create extra-credit reports on what they have learned.
Share these reports in class as a follow-up activity or post them on a bulletin
board.
• Invite a local soloist or group to come to your class to sing or play “The Star-
Spangled Banner” to give your students a chance to participate in and evaluate
a live performance.
• Tell your students that the flag that flew above Fort McHenry during the War
of 1812 is displayed at the National Museum of American History at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Additional Resources
• www.thenationalanthemproject.org. An MENC Web site that supports
teachers in all aspects of teaching “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Included are
sample press releases, lesson plans, song arrangements, and tips for teaching
“The Star-Spangled Banner.”
• www.americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/opening.html. The Smithsonian Institute’s
Web site describes the restoration and preservation of the flag flown at Fort
McHenry, now housed at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The site gives
information on the flag’s complex and interesting history.
• www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/spangle.htm. This site plays a MIDI arrange-
ment and shows the flag displayed at the Pentagon following 9/11.
• www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/starflag.htm. The site gives the complete history
of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and shows a photo of the flag that flew above
Fort McHenry.
• www.contemplator.com/america/anacreon.html. This site features the lyrics of
“To Anacreon in Heaven.” You may wish to have your students investigate
how the original melody differs from the melody as we know it.
Photo by Beth Pontiff
Modern Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9 “The Star-Spangled Banner” 169Letter to a Dear Friend
100 North Amity Street
Baltimore, Maryland
October 16, 1814
My Dear Friend,
I hope my letter finds you well. I am so excited that I could not wait until
tomorrow to write! I hope my candle will burn long enough for me to share what
I learned at my uncle’s house this evening. Little did I know that the famous
lawyer Francis Scott Key would be there.
Following dinner we went into the parlor. Mr. Key told us the most intriguing
story about our battle with the British at Fort McHenry. He told us about how
Dr. William Beanes of Upper Marlboro had treated some of the wounded
Redcoats and helped them return to good health. He also told us all about how
Dr. Beanes was chosen to hide our state documents so that the British would
not find and burn them. One night, Dr. Beanes had two British soldiers arrest-
ed for disorderly conduct and one escaped. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Beanes
himself was arrested by the British and taken aboard ship.
Dr. Beanes’s friends knew Francis Scott Key was a highly regarded attorney
who lived in Georgetown in the nearby District of Columbia. Mr. Key met with
Dr. Beanes’s family and drafted the necessary papers to meet with the British
to have Dr. Beanes released. There was no guarantee that the British would
even see Mr. Key, but immediately upon arriving in Baltimore on September 7,
Mr. Key and Col. Skinner sailed to the British admiral’s flagship, eight miles
from shore.
The admiral agreed to release Dr. Beanes because he had treated the British
soldiers and officers with kindness and respect. Mr. Key and Dr. Beanes had
hoped to be allowed to leave immediately. Much to their surprise they were
told they could not leave because they had seen the preparations for the
upcoming attack on Baltimore. The attack began at dawn on September 13th.
The admiral told them they could watch Baltimore become British territory.
Imagine the horror Mr. Key, Col. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes must have felt as
they watched the bombs and rockets launched from the British fleet. Imagine
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
170 Lessons in American Music All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9what it was like to see American ships sinking huge British ships. Imagine the loud sounds coming from all sides. Imagine the smoke and the smells from the cannon. Mr. Key and the others did not know how Fort McHenry was standing up to the bombardment because it became dark and all they could see were smoke and fireballs flying through the air. He said the bombs lit up the sky, whistling and popping as they flew. Mr. Key said he became very upset about what the condi- tions at the fort might be, but that when the sun rose and the smoke cleared on September 14, he suddenly became glad and cried tears of joy when he saw the flag still flying high above the fort. Twenty-five hours of bombs! Can you believe it? The flag was still flying in all its glory above Fort McHenry. Mr. Key said that as he looked at the flag with awe and wonder, he found him- self inspired to compose a poem. His poem is majestic! I felt as if I was there. He called it “Defence of Fort McHenry.” He recited us the poem that he wrote on the back of a letter my uncle had written him. (In his haste to leave Georgetown, he had put my uncle’s unopened letter in his jacket pocket. I won- der if he would have written his poem as quickly if he had not had my uncle’s letter.) All the newspapers wanted to publish “Defence of Fort McHenry.” Francis Scott Key even sang his poem for us. He said there had been a favorite melody in his head when he composed the poem. Maybe you have heard of it. The song is called “To Anacreon in Heaven,” and it is dedicated to the Greek god Anacreon. The song was written by John Stafford Smith for a gentlemen's club in London. Sung with Mr. Key’s words, it is the most wonderful song I have ever heard. All of us sat motionless as Mr. Key told his story and sang the song. I do not think I will have such an engaging after-dinner talk again in my whole life! These are most exciting times, my friend. As a special treat, I have enclosed a copy of “Defence of Fort McHenry” for your enjoyment. I will sing the song for you when we see each other over the holidays. Then we can sing it together. I cannot wait! Most sincerely yours, Darby Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9 “The Star-Spangled Banner” 171
Defence of Fort McHenry
O say! can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream;
’Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave;
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
172 Lessons in American Music All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9Student Version The Star-Spangled Banner
Lyrics by Francis Scott Key
Arranged by Debra Kay Robinson Lindsay
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. All rights reserved.
This song may be photocopied for classes or other groups within purchaser’s institution only. This provision does not confer
any other rights to the purchaser or his or her institution.
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9 “The Star-Spangled Banner” 173The Star-Spangled Banner
(Tune: To Anacreon in Heaven)
Teacher Version
Lyrics by Francis Scott Key
Arranged by Debra Kay Robinson Lindsay
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
174 Lessons in American Music All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9Copyright © 2006 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56545-175-9 “The Star-Spangled Banner” 175
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