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FRANCIS SCOTT KEY Born in 1779 - Died in 1843

In 1813 the commander of Ft. McHenry asked for a flag so big that "the British have no trouble seeing it from a distance." He asked Mary Young Pickersgill to make the flag for him. Her thirteen year old daughter Caroline helped her. She used 400 yards of fine wool. They cut 15 stars that were two feet across. There were
8 red and 7 white stripes. The stripes were each two feet wide. When it was finished it measured 30 by 42 feet and cost $405.90.

During this time Francis Scott Key was a lawyer in Georgetown, just a few miles from Washington D.C. He and his wife Mary had 6 sons and 5 daughters.

In 1814, the British captured Washington and set the Capitol on fire. President James Madison and his wife Dolley had to leave the White House and run to a safer place.

After this attack, the Americans knew that Baltimore would be attacked next. The British had captured Mr. Key's friend. His name was William Beanes and he was a doctor. Key and another man set out to try to save Dr. Beanes' life. They told the British the doctor had helped to save British soldiers who had been wounded. They agreed to free him, but they wouldn't let them leave because the three men had overheard the British making plans to attack. So they were placed under guard on a British ship.

It was from this ship Francis Scott Key watched the bombing of Ft. McHenry. There was a lot of smoke and haze, but when daylight came, he could see the flag was still waving.

Larger view
Original at Library of Congress

He was so inspired he began to write a poem on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. He later finished the poem and showed it to his brother-in-law who took it to a printer and had copies made of it. Two of these copies survive today.

Newspapers started printing it and people began singing it to a familiar tune.

The Star Spangled Banner was adopted as our national anthem on March 3, 1931.

The flag which flew over Ft. McHenry is now at the Smithsonian in the Museum of American History. The flag is very fragile and they keep a curtain in front of it to protect it from the light and dust. They show the flag for a few moments once every hour when the museum is open to the public.

This biography by Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, was written in 2001.

A frequent question: "Who wrote this biography and when was it written?" Look on this Reference Citations Chart.

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PRINTABLES Alphabetical Order Francis Scott Key Word Search Francis Scott Key - Word Match * Francis Scott Key Crossword Puzzle Francis Scott Key - Word Scramble Francis Scott Key Study Sheet Worksheet Color a picture of Francis Scott Key Print Francis Scott Key Test

RESEARCH LINKS

See The flag that Francis Scott Key saw now at the Smithsonian Francis Scott Key Powerpoint Fort McHenry National Monument Teacher's Guide The Star Spangled Banner the text as originally written and changes to it The Star Spangled Banner words and free sheet music Francis Scott Key Silver Burdett Making Music Poems of Francis Scott Key Another story of the flag Francis Scott Key Quotes Famous Quotes by QuoteDepot.Net From Word Central's Student Dictionary by Merriam - Webster (Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə) capitol Pronunciation: 'kap-ət-əl, 'kap-təl Function: noun : the building in which a state legislature meets... inspired, inspire Pronunciation: in-'spI(ə)r Function: verb ...: to cause to have a particular thought or feeling (a childhood that inspired her with a desire for education) ... anthem Pronunciation: 'an(t)-thəm Function: noun 1 : a sacred composition with words usually from the Scriptures 2 : a song of praise or gladness fragile Pronunciation: 'fraj-əl, -"Il Function: adjective : easily broken or destroyed : delicate... Our Country, Intermediate Thematic Unit By Homeschool / Teacher Created Resources Our Country is a thematic literature unit which gives students the opportunity to learn more about America's presidents, national symbols, and historical monuments. Within these 80 pages, teachers will find lesson ideas and reproducible pages designed to use with intermediate-aged students. Four high quality nonfiction picture books-So You Want to Be President?, Eyewitness: Presidents, Uncle Sam and Old Glory, and A is for America-provide the basis for these materials. Teachers wil find introductory and supplemental activities that encourage and extend the reading of each title. Additional activities provide curriculum connections to language arts, math, science, social studies, art, music, and life skills. The unit ends with bulletin board ideas and culminating activities. Betsy Zane: The Rose Of Fort Henry By Durrant / Houghton-mifflin Philadelphia in 1781 is bustling and thick with wartime intrigue, but thirteen-year-old Betsy Zane is bored: tired of her great-aunt's stories about the old days, and tired of living in a hot, dirty city. She'd rather be riding her horse, the Merry May, along the Ohio River she remembers from childhood, galloping faster that the wind. When great-aunt Elizabeth dies, Betsy makes her way to her brother's homestead In the western wilderness. But the freedom she expected to find on the frontier is not as easily come by as she had hoped. Just Like her great-aunt before them, Betsy's brothers, the military authorities, and even the charming young lieutenant who comes courting--all have strong opinions about how a young lady should behave. Based on the life of the real Betsy Zane, including her historic run for gunpowder, which turned the tide in the final battle of the Revolutionary War, this novel offers a compelling portrait of a young woman and of a new nation, both on the very brink of independence. A LIBRARY OF ONLINE BOOKS and BOOK PREVIEWS Francis Scott Key, Patriotic Poet by Susan R. Gregson (selected pages) Order here The Star Spangled Banner by Debbie L. Yanuck (selected pages) Order here The Flag Maker by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Claire A. Nivola (selected pages) Order here Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington D.C. Volume 12 - Francis Scott Key Keep on sewing, Betsy Ross!: a fun song about the first American flag by Michael Dahl, Order here Preview these Amazon books using the links below. O Say Can You See by Francis Scott Key, Star Spangled Baby Ltd (picture book, no preview) Francis Scott Key and "The Star Spangled Banner" by Lynea Bowdish, Harry Burman (no preview) The Star Spangled Banner, On My Own History by Catherine A. Welch, Carrie H. Warwick (selected pages) The Star Spangled Banner by Debra Hess (selected pages) The Star Spangled Banner, Graphic Library by Ryan Jacobson (selected pages) The Writing of "The Star Spangled Banner" by Sabrina Crewe, Scott Ingram (selected pages) The Star Spangled Banner in Translation: What It Really Means by Elizabeth Raum, Holt Merchant (selected pages)

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2012-03-21 More info on his personal life please

2011-12-02 dont make the page so long if there is barely any info.

2011-02-22 Who was the author of this page? You can find the information here: http://gardenofpraise.com/biographydates.htm

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Biographies in this Series

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Presidents of the United States	George Washington	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	James Madison	James Monroe	Andrew Jackson
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	John F. Kennedy	Lyndon B. Johnson	Jimmy Carter	Ronald Reagan	Barack Obama	Calvin Coolidge
American Patriots	Benjamin Franklin	Francis Scott Key	Deborah Sampson	Molly Pitcher
World Leaders	Constantine	Alexander the Great	Winston Churchill
Inventors	Alexander Graham Bell	Johann Gutenberg	Cyrus McCormick	The Wright Brothers	Henry Ford	Thomas A. Edison
	Sequoyah	Nikola Tesla	Michael Faraday	Dean Kamen	Jack Kilby	Leonardo Da Vinci
	Donald O'Neal
Explorers	Christopher Columbus	Meriwether Lewis	Robert Peary	John Muir	Matthew Henson	Sir Edmund Hillary
	Kit Carson	Johnny Appleseed	Daniel Boone
Women who made a difference	Clara Barton	Helen Keller	Florence Nightingale	Joan of Arc	Amelia Earhart	Annie Oakley
	Susan B. Anthony	Elizabeth Keckly	Harriet Tubman	Anne Frank	Eleanor Roosevelt	Madam C.J. Walker
	Sadako Sasaki	Henrietta Lacks
Scientists	George Washington Carver	Sir Isaac Newton	Marie Curie	Louis Pasteur	Albert Einstein	Galileo
	Lise Meitner	Norman Borlaug	Benjamin Banneker
Educators	Noah Webster	Booker T. Washington	Aristotle	Mary McLeod Bethune
Physicians	Hippocrates	Walter Reed	Albert Schweitzer
Religious Leaders	George Muller	Increase Mather
Athletes	Lou Gehrig	Wilma Rudolph	Tiger Woods	Michael Phelps
Civil Rights Leaders	Martin Luther King	Rosa Parks	Sojourner Truth	Frederick Douglass	Mary Ann Shadd Cary	James Forten
	Gandhi	César Chávez	William Wilberforce	Nelson Mandela
Composers	Beethoven	Mozart
Authors	Laura Ingalls Wilder	Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)	Ernest Hemingway	Greg Mortenson	Phillis Wheatley
Artists	John James Audubon	Gutzon Borglum	Ansel Adams	Dale Chihuly	Van Gogh	Michelangelo
	Rembrandt	Grandma Moses	Cassatt	Renoir	Cezanne	Rockwell

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