Mike Rowe: The INCREDIBLE Story Behind the National Anthem | Somebody's Gotta Do It

on this episode on the ramparts I walk learning all there is to know about the birth of our national anthem Francis Scott Key Seasons like yeah and never to argue with Ranger Vince the War of 1812 was tough going to the moon was tough when have we Americans ever shot away from some because it's tough [Music] Dalia will boast but of ten endless Shades and the bar I love the original words to our national anthem I love the fact that this tune was originally an Old English song called to anachron in heaven I love the fact that Francis Scott Key changed the words as he watched the British Retreats during the Battle of Baltimore and I love the fact that one man is on a mission to make sure people understand the events of 1814 were no less important to the future of America than the shot heard round the world that man is Ranger Vince vase Ranger Vince is a man on a mission if he can't get you excited about American history well you're either sleeping or not from my hometown here we are in Fort McHenry they're the Stars and Stripes snapping proudly in the breeze in mere moments we're going to go inside we're going to meet Vince we're gonna get a tour I'm told this guy as a pistol [Music] last time I was here was 1971 I think I arrived on a bus just like that except it didn't say Allegheny County Public Schools it said Baltimore Public Schools and uh so now I'm going back into the fort taking a field trip you come to the facts of what happened here 200 years ago haven't changed since my last visit but the challenge of making history interesting for today's viewer is what you might call quixotic but it's worth a try and my producer Ted is all about making the effort it's like the old report card I don't know when you were in high school did you get two grades did you get like an effort thing yeah I did yeah we're the same age so yeah okay so you got you would get like a B for effort yeah c for work or an a for effort a for work whatever all right this segment I feel like is going to be an a for effort a lot of effort and you know results you know that's that's the very Buddhist thing it's not about attachment to results I hadn't thought of it in terms of Buddhism before I think of everything in terms of Buddhism are you a Buddhist no fundamentally all history is a story and if we have any hope at all of keeping you awake we need a good Storyteller thankfully Ranger Vince is a pro and the history of Fort McHenry is one he's told before that's the original structure where it happened I mean what you're looking at is over 200 years old so if you were here 200 years ago you would see the Rockets regular coming over you would see the bombs bursting in air this is where it happened yeah it still gets me and I and you must think about it every day what what was it what was it really like what was it really really like one of the neat things uh that I like doing is reading the original letters of the soldiers who were here and these have survived you know from the early 19th century and those give you a sense of what it was like to be here for example one Captain who was in the fort his name was Joseph Nicholson and he said we felt like pigeons Tied by the legs to be shot at you know that abject feeling of helplessness like you know they're they're hitting us and there's nothing we can do about it you know that that sinking waiting waiting you're taking it you know without being able to give it in terms of the construction of the Ford five-sided basically yeah it's a pentagon the points that come off of the dominant like protrusions are called bastions so if you ever hear that term the last past you know the fence that's what they're talking about right the other thing is if you look see the brick wall another name for the wall is called Rampart so when you sing or the ramparts we watched Francis Scott Key is on a ship looking up at the wall he looks above the wall boom he sees the big flag my enthusiastic guide is Ranger Vince phase a man who was born to make history come alive how long have you been here I've been here 20 years I started in high school my high school history teacher was a summer Ranger and he said hey would you like to volunteer and I said yeah and he said I said what do you do he goes well you can portray a young recruit and just loved it ever since I'm going to ask you the dumbest question I've ever asked anybody on camera on a scale of one to ten how much do you like what you do 25 there we go let's go let's do that papsco River September 11th 1814 55 British ships were spied down there this was all part of this war of 1812 a war that hadn't been going well at all just how badly was the War of 1812 going well the British had just overrun Washington DC where they burned and looted the White House the capital the treasury and the war department buildings that badly the British were bullying us around you know they were stealing our Sailors off our ships they were telling us who we could and could not trade with we tried to negotiate it we tried embargoes kind of like economic sanctions we had the revolution we already became independent and that was what we were mad about was like Hey you know we've moved out of the house we can turn our stereo up you don't tell us what to do anymore right so we said you know what we're declaring war on and we put up with it for 10 years they impressed over 6 000 Americans into the British Navy we're declaring war to make a stand a lot of Americans opposed that Francis Scott Key opposed the war of 1812. what was Key's role in the government key with non-elected official professionally he was a lawyer from Georgetown all right on the night of the 24th of August 1814 a soldier standing where you are at looking there could see a glow in the sky when the British burned the White House and Congress and the government buildings unbelievable the day after the British marched out of Washington DC yeah then as they were marching through a town called Upper Marlborough a few British stragglers got away kind of from the main column and started breaking into chicken coops and stuff like that and create Mayhem and a local elderly guys like 75 years old as doctor Dr William beans took two of them prisoner like shotgun point you know and uh obviously you can't make this up and uh one of them one of the British soldiers managed to escape and then ratted them out went to the British High command and said hey there's this crazy old man he's taking guys prisoners right and the British got freaking mad about us Dr William beans it was a civilian guy was taken prisoner by the British and then President Madison said hey this is not cool taking civilians prisoner so so no no hold on I want to imagine James Madison saying hey this is not cool yeah taking taking our people prisoner I just want to see that he was more altitution hard to imagine yeah so key volunteers to negotiate the release of beans and sails out to the British Fleet where beans is being held key succeeds but there's a catch so they get this guy off but the British say if we let you go ahead of us you're just gonna say everything you're going to tell them how many ships we got how many troops we got yeah why wouldn't we and uh so you're gonna have to wait until this battle is over with so you just got yourselves a front row seat to the turning point of the war of 1812. the main British Squadron is on the horizon yeah 15 Ships Come just beyond that that green buoy out there well you say buoy Bowie is that like a buoy boy yes that you said Bowie Bowie Bowie Hein it's Balmer it's a billy all right those ships could far a throw about a 200 pound exploding shell a little bigger than the average basketball two miles and I say show because it was packed with 13 pounds of high explosive black powder with the fuse tapped into the top boom when you shot It Off The Recoil was so much the whole ship went down two feet and then you can see the black dot go in the air and going mile high in the sky and then Arc down come down come down come down and when if you timed it right when it's rooftop High the fuse has burnt to the inside where the powder is and and boom so Devastation there because the the goal is hey if you think you can take the might of the British Empire we're going to devastate your cities right then it starts to rain so or you can arm stays like great now it's raining I gotta take the big flag down could be worse could be raining yeah there were two direct hits right on this very spot is that where there's a plaque there yeah this is the more somber part of the park I always try to make visitors aware that there were people who died here uh and two of them died right on this spot so you have Levi clackett and Sergeant John Clem two men of this particular unit uh the Baltimore fed it's a local guy who died on this spot and then ask the other shell coming in that's going first then there's another casualty nearby not far from here interestingly enough in a ditch behind the fort and he was born enslaved he was slave his born name was Frederick Hall he escaped joined the American Army under a new name called William Williams and his right leg was severed by a British shell that burst near him so here you have this Lieutenant Levi Claggett very prominent baltimoreian an officer his name is on a monument in the city of Baltimore right now as we speak and then over there as private William Williams one of the poorest guys of the young Republic at that time officially not even considered a citizen by the very country he died defending and I think it just shows that cross-section of America that came together to defend this fort five dead 25 wounded not the bloodiest battle of the war but a turning point and Francis Scott Key knew the stakes if if the fort doesn't hold what would logically happens next it's like kicking over the first Domino of a series if the fourth doesn't hold then the British can land the British land then it can March right into the city this was the linchpin of the defense system pull the Lynch pin out everything falls apart so the bombardment's continuing right and then all through the night Francis Scott Key probably couldn't see the flag but by dawn's early life the bombardment the shelling gradually tapers off the seemingly Invincible Armada had been turned away yeah and as as the British are sailing away Armistead the commander of the fort major George Armstead gives them a special send off he gives the orders to change the flag so the small sobbing wet flag comes down the gigantic 30 by 42 foot flag is always be kind of like an in your face sure kind of thing to the British as the fives and drums of the Garrison played Yankee Doodle and that's when those are those are not that was it it wasn't official but it was used the national anthem and that's when Francis Scott Key Seasons like yeah and having that gas moment is really what drove that power of emotion for him to start writing the words that became our country song it's interesting you know the history you know in the history you don't know uh you could fill a book with what I don't know so I'm here at Fort McHenry the linchpin of the War of 1812 and the birthplace of our Star-Spangled Banner the Star-Spangled Banner has 4 th verse but the other three verses are like you're with him and he's telling you the story you know and it's heavy I remember like oh thus BNN where free men shall stand between their loved homes and the worst desolation and here's the thing that that's that you know that first because that's the fourth verse yeah he was a lawyer most lawyers the most powerful part of what they say is in the concluding argument the closer so if Keys ghost is like here he'd be like I don't know why you guys are singing the first verse that's just my warm-up I always wanted everyone to sing the fourth verse if you guys were going to actually make an Anthem or something how come you didn't I just written the one and that's what you're doing the fourth one and just giving you that [Music] the story of The Star-Spangled banners just showed that Keys words and the actions that happened here really changed how Americans viewed their flag how that caused Americans to take their flag more seriously ingrain the flag as the quintessential symbol of the United States so that you see Americans that cultural bond that we have as a people as Americans really was formed here at Fort McHenry in 1814 through the words of Francis Scott Key so what do you think about the uh the constant conversation about adapting another national anthem you mean changing the national anthem and adopting another piece yes I think people need to come here and experience the history here firsthand and learn the story firsthand I think they change their tune [Laughter] changing the tune about changing the tune a lot of those people they like for example they'll say well I was bursting an arcue must be warlike key was just the opposite he opposed the war of 1812. he was a very religious man he generally you know what he was saying was in spite of the rock it's in spite of the bombs the flag is still there well I think I think the uh the other part of the argument is it's just so tough to sing I mean for the average person oh hey the War of 1812 was tough and we didn't give up on it building in the Transcontinental Railroad was tough we didn't give up on it going to the moon was tough and we didn't shot him from that and the Civil Rights Movement was tough and we didn't shy away from that so just because it's tough one of the Americans ever shot away from something because it's tough what kind of argument is that I retract the question I think we should make it harder the original Star-Spangled Banner is somewhere in the Smithsonian but there's a replica here at the fort in Vince's unbridled passion has inspired in me a burning desire to raise the same sized flag that inspired our national anthem we want to raise the big flag look at the big flag okay he's got to raise the big sure and from what I hear it's a big flag we're flying a 17 by 25 flag right here now the huge one is 30 by 42 feet it's a pretty big flag I think it's too windy for it okay so here's the deal look cool raising the fly but we'll need every Everybody in the in here to help catch it when it calms down okay so that's that's the deal you guys in for that we can raise the big one but it's a team effort we'll see if we can get some we'll need some visitors too so that's not that's not the big flag no no it's not the biggest flag is a big flag and it's like a sale yeah so when he says let go let go because he's been dragged into the sally port crushed his hat really yeah yeah let me get this straight Vince got thrown into the sally port and his ranger hat got crushed because the wind caught the flag the wrong way yes and he did not let go it'll drag you this is the kind of something it's a good windy day we'd like to see that that's possible so we're here in Baltimore at Fort McHenry the birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner on this Hallowed Ground Ranger Vince and his team of historical interpreters are dedicated to Bringing history to life be careful with that thing oh you can poke your eye out but the story of Fort McHenry is really the story of a flag a very big flag this is the Hands-On History part of our program that I've been given the honor of raising that big flag over the fort and it'll come to you trust me but first we've got to put the little one away off the ground okay that's 17 by 25 feet now the huge one is 30 by 42 feet that's a big flag Mike you want to do this I'd be honored well come on down a lot of traditions surround the American flag one of the oldest is the unique way we Fold It fold the flag in the shape of a triangle so in the flat you know why pyramids some say some say that the triangle symbolic of the three cornered hats worn by the founding fathers right others maintain it's for the Constitution that calls for a balance of power between three branches of government interesting some say it's like a religious thing father-son Holy Ghost that's right Trinity well there's some Masons say that's a Masonic symbol you know the pyramid with the eyeball in the middle of it right so a lot of symbolism um the federal government never had a law that said why in the code it said for the founding fathers but I think it was left kind of open so that Americans could put their own meaning into it you know what I mean sure so with the small flag packed away it's time to go big this is a big flag changing the flag you know somebody's got to do it got to be done Vince so both sides want to back away and unroll backing away steady okay the commander of the fort major George Armistead said it's my intention to have a flag so large the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance okay now that they have the flag open uh let's go ahead and we want to turn the flag around clockwise [Music] there we go and we're set all right here we go guys remember to start the yank ready all the way all right here we go [Music] how much does this thing weigh about 55 pounds seems heavier as soon as they let go of it you'll you'll feel lighter for you later [Music] you're doing great ah [Music] there you go what's up go away don't move look at that thing go look at that isn't that awesome that is awesome it's a workout yeah Freedom's heavy you could use that if you want freedom tubby yeah please address the lens and in your own words say something Unforgettable about Baltimore make people want to come visit and bring history alive it's only you can do events well I would say you know the the tagline for Baltimore is the birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner Baltimore The Star Spangled City connect to your country up close and personal through a visit to Fort McHenry and a visit to Baltimore I have nothing to add except thank you oh you're welcome thank you it's great fun isn't this awesome good luck getting that thing down [Music] Baltimore has a chip on its shoulder Boston and Philly and New York get all the attention in American history classes but without the brave stand made here in this Harbor our country wouldn't have made it out of the 19th century that's why I care so much about this 18th century song that eventually became our national anthem and that's why a park ranger becomes an almost terrifyingly intense evangelist so why is it that of the 154 million objects stored in the Smithsonian institution that the Star-Spangled Banner is considered the most valued because in Baltimore baby that's right Baltimore foreign

Channel: Mike Rowe

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Keywords: fort mchenry, tour of fort mchenry in baltimore, tour of fort mchenry, serve with honor, fort mchenry national monument, fort mchenry tour, mchenry, best places to visit in maryland, ft mchenry, national park service, best places to visit in baltimore, things to do in baltimore, defense of fort mchenry, touring baltimore, fort mchenry star spangled banner, mike rowe, mike rowe dirty jobs, mike rowe podcast, mike rowe tbn, somebody's gotta do it, m1m2m3, m1k3r0w3, m1m2, j03s, r0w3

Id: 3owwHHiK904

Length: 19min 45sec (1185 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023