Baltimore Tutors Come To You

Forty miles from the nation’s capital is the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Located in the cradle of American political life, Baltimore has a long history of embodying the American identity. Baltimore is the birth place of the song that also speaks to the American spirit: the national anthem.

In 1814, America was at war with England again. This time, not for independence, but embargoes and impressment. In Baltimore’s bay, the American flag flew over Fort McHenry, and British warships encircled American troops, bombarding the fort for hours and into the night.

Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, had been on British ships the week prior to negotiate the release of a prisoner, as well as try to learn what plans the British had for the bombardment. His plans were discovered, and Key was moved to a holding ship while the British fleet gathered in Baltimore Bay. He, along with other prisoners, watched the bombs and heard the explosions at Fort McHenry. As the night wore on, smoke, fire, and explosions punctuated the air. “It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone,” Key wrote later, of his experiences. Given the scale of the battle, and the sheer magnitude of British firepower, Key was certain that the American army would lose the battle and the fort to the enemy.

As the dawn broke, however, Key saw that the American flag still flew over the fort—not the British Union Jack. The army had weathered the night and emerged victorious, despite being outgunned and outnumbered. Key put his thoughts to paper that morning. Those thoughts were originally in the form of a lengthy poem commemorating the night. Soon, it was set to a popular English tune and the rest, as they say, is history.

Nearly two centuries later, the flag that inspired Key still survives, though fragile and worn by the years. To preserve this American icon, experts at the National Museum of American History have completed an eight-year conservation treatment in the last few years. The flag is housed at the Smithsonian Institute, faded and full of holes, but still a reminder of the battle of Baltimore and the national anthem that resulted from that night.

That Key had the wherewithal to write down his thoughts at the conclusion of a battle speaks to a fortitude not often associated with writers or poets. Key not only survived the night, but looked back at it with wonder. Likewise, when struggling students have to weather the difficulties of an academic slump, they can look back on the time with gratitude they made it through—often, with the help of a tutor. Tutors in Baltimore are well-equipped to help students turn grades around and have a renewed sense of self-confidence that comes with academic success.