Francis Scott Key wrote the verses that became the national anthem while detained on a truce ship during the 25-hour British bombardment of Fort McHenry in September 1814. This episode looks past that single night to the man behind it: a wealthy Maryland attorney who had sailed out to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes and was held back because he had seen British plans to attack Baltimore.

We trace his powerful legal career, from the Aaron Burr treason trial and the defense of Sam Houston to prosecuting Richard Lawrence for the attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson. We also examine his contradictory record on slavery, his leadership in the American Colonization Society, his failed 1836 prosecution of Dr. Reuben Crandall, his deep Episcopal faith, and the recent turbulence around his memorials.

• Why the song was set to a popular British tune and did not become the official anthem until 1931
• His years as U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia under Andrew Jackson
• Freeing some enslaved people and fighting for John Randolph’s will while still enslaving others
• How abolitionists and free Black Americans opposed the American Colonization Society
• The 2020 toppling of his San Francisco statue and the 2024 collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore