Existing comment:
Spreading the Word:
Francis Scott Key's song achieved instant popularity. In an era of slow communication, it spread across the nation with impressive speed.
Key finished writing the song at his hotel in Baltimore on the evening of September 16, 1814. He showed it to his wife's brother-in-law, Joseph Nicholson, who immediately delivered it to the offices of the Baltimore American and Commercial Daily Advertiser. This first printing under the title "Defence of Fort M'Henry" was a broadside sheet, handed out in the streets. It stated that the song should be sung to the tune of "Anacreon in Heaven." In a matter of hours, the whole city was singing it.
The song's popularity prompted a more official published printing in the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser, on September 20. The song spread quickly. By September 22, it had also appeared in a New York City newspaper, the Mercantile Advertiser.
Newspapers in at least nine of the 18 states in 1814 had published the song within six weeks, reaching north to New Hampshire and as far south as Georgia. |