ABSTRACT
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key watched the American victory in repelling the British bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. The vivid nighttime victory inspired Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which later became the American national anthem. Today Americans sing only the first verse, neglecting the rest which includes (in the third verse) Key’s dig at the British for liberating American slaves to augment their fighting force: No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave. And the star-spangled banner—O! Long may it wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
