In December, 1907, I received instructions from the Librarian of Congress to "bring together the various versions both of text and of music with notes as to the historical evolution" of "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Hail Columbia," "America," and "Yankee Doodle." The report was to he brief and light of touch, but accurate enough for practical purposes. This task would have boon comparatively easy had the literature on the subject boon reliable. Unfortunately it crumbled under the slightest critical pressure, and it became imperative to devote more research and more analytical and synthetic thought to the report than had seemed advisable at first. This and the fact that the report had to be compiled without neglect of current duties accounts for the delay in submitting it.In form the report is frankly not a history of the subject, such as one would write for popular consumption. Kather, in this report data are collected, eliminated, or verified; popular theories founded on thTable of Contents Prbpace 5; "Tue Star-Spangled Banner" 7-42; "Hail Columbia" 43-72; "America'* 73-78; "Yankee Doodle" 79-156; Literature used hor this Report 157-164; Appendix: Illustrations 165-248; Index 2-19-255About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org