"Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ..."

Yes, these are the first couple of lines of "The Star Spangled Banner" -- the American National Anthem, which every American boasts to sing seeing the star-spangled banner waving high up in the sky.

It is already the fag end of June and the nation has started adorning herself with inspiring hues of red, white and blue to celebrate July 4^th with joy and pride. Let us span back to the period when the battle of Baltimore was fought on September 12^th to 14^th in 1814. The story behind the American National Anthem is really interesting. Inspired by this battle the poem was written by the 35-year old, poet-lawyer Francis Scott Key. He did not know that his creation "The Star Spangled Banner" would become the National Anthem of our nation and would be sung by millions with heartfelt respect through out the year and especially on July 4^th.

Although it seems that the words of the American National Anthem matches very much with an old English song -- "To Anacreon in Heaven", yet the song tends to sprinkle the passion of patriotism and strength in our minds, whether it is sung by school kids or by military professional or a music celebrity. The song reminds us about the tough time and the harsh life that our forefathers had to spend to make our nation free and see her as "One Nation Under God".

When the British launched a military attack on Baltimore's Fort McHenry in 1814, the young lawyer witnessed the vicious battle and the agony that his fighter brothers had to suffer thorough out the long night of struggle. But he was enchanted and struck with a feel of wonder when he spotted the massive flag of the fort still waving with pride with the pleasant morning breeze the next day.

Within the three days of attack Key had finished all the four verses of his poem, delineating the story of the battle. He made occasional changes. Later some of the editors had also made changes to certain spellings and punctuations in Key's original creation. The beautiful tune was composed by the famous American composer William Billings, who was a friend of two famous American revolutionists Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Falling in love with the poem and its awe-inspiring tune, in 1916 the president Woodrow Wilson ordered that the song should become the American National Anthem and should be played by the military and naval services. But it was not until 1931 that the poem was legislated as the official American National Anthem.

This was the story about how the American National Anthem was born. Let us pay our wholehearted tribute to the poet-lawyer Francis Scott Key and the great American composer William Billings on this July 4^th. On this July 4^th let us also pay homage to our forefathers who fought bravely to save the massive American flag of Baltimore's Fort McHenry that is found waving still today. And the only way to pay homage to these great persons is to sing the American National Anthem on this July 4^th from the core of our hearts.

"And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

This American National Anthem article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com