Star-Spangled Banner authorship and date?

Star-Spangled Banner authorship and date?

• A. Betsy Ross; 1814
• B. George Washington; 1776
• C. Francis Scott Key; 1814
• D. John Adams; 1798

Answer: (C)

Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner in 1814, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. His verses, written on the night of the bombardment and inspired by the sight of the flag still flying at dawn, became the poem Defense of Fort M’Henry that would later be set to music and eventually adopted as the national anthem (1931). Betsy Ross is traditionally linked to the flag’s design, not the anthem, while George Washington and John Adams belong to an earlier era and are not connected to the song’s creation.

Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner in 1814, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. His verses, written on the night of the bombardment and inspired by the sight of the flag still flying at dawn, became the poem Defense of Fort M’Henry that would later be set to music and eventually adopted as the national anthem (1931). Betsy Ross is traditionally linked to the flag’s design, not the anthem, while George Washington and John Adams belong to an earlier era and are not connected to the song’s creation.