Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 - January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer and poet. He is best known for writing a poem which later became the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States of America. Key was inspired to write it after he saw the British bombardment of Baltimore in 1814. During the war he was jailed by the British in Washington.
His mother was Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and his father was Captain John Ross Key. He graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1796.
Key became a leader of the American Colonization Society that created Liberia and freed a few if his own slaves.[verification needed] In the administration of Andrew Jackson he was the United States Attorney in Washington, D.C.He resigned as District Attorney in 1840. He kept his belief in the system of African colonization (slavery) and a strongly disagreed with it being taken apart (abolition) movement until his death.[1]
Crandall died shortly after his acquittal,[when?] at the age of 63.[2] At the Washington jail he developed pneumonia.[verification needed] He died of pleurisy at his daughters home.[2]
Francis Scott Key Media
- Mary Tayloe Lloyd (Mrs. Francis Scott Key).jpg
Mary Tayloe Lloyd, early 1800s
- TerraRubra.jpg
Maryland Historical Society plaque marking Key's birthplace
- Fort mc henry cannon Baltimore.jpg
Fort McHenry looking towards the position of the British ships, with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the distance on the upper left
- Francis Scott Key law office Frederick MD1.jpg
Key law office on Court Street in Frederick, Maryland
- Francis Scott Key Monument San Francisco December 2016 panorama.jpg
Francis Scott Key Monument as it stood in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, until it was toppled in June 2020. The empty plinth is now surrounded by 350 black steel sculptures that honor the 350 Africans kidnapped from Angola into Virginia and transported across the Atlantic on slave ships.
Related pages
References
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- ↑ Morley, Jefferson (July 5, 2013). "What role did the famous author of "The Star-Spangled Banner" play in the debate over American slavery?". The Globalist. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jason, Philip K.; Graves, Mark A. (2001). Encyclopedia of American war literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 197.
