Francis Scott Key is enshrined in America's iconography as a paragon of patriotism on par with Betsy Ross, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, and John Hancock - individuals who hold exalted places in early American history for performing one memorable act. For Francis Scott Key, that immortal moment was writing "The Star-Spangled Banner" under the most dramatic (and unlikely) of circumstances: while witnessing the all-night Battle of Baltimore onboard a British ship in that city's harbor. In What So Proudly We Hailed, historian Marc Leepson reveals Francis Scott Key as a man of his time, full of contradictions, as a slave owner who fought slave trafficking and defended slaves for free. An influential confidant and advisor to Andrew Jackson and a close friend of Senator John Randolph, Key's home in Georgetown was a frequent gathering point for the intellectual heavyweights of the day. He was a leader of the American Colonization Society, a national movement that worked to send freed slaves back to Africa - a movement that led to the creation of the West African nation of Liberia.
The first full-length biography of Francis Scott Key in more than 75 years, this is a fascinating story of a forgotten American patriot that makes plain his important legacy.