Monday, July 21, 2025

Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail

If anyone ever questions whether I lesson plan for fun, I definitely do. 😊

I'm spending a lot of my vacation finishing up partially-written Ruzuku courses, and planning Zac's main lesson block. I don't know if he will ever want to do an MLB during the summer again, but I'm having a blast!

I figured out all of our Revolutionary War activities, but I'm hitting a wall when it comes to the War of 1812. That's because there's TOO MUCH. We can, of course, visit sites in future summers (a fact of which I'm trying to remind myself). There's no need to do it all in the next few weeks...


By the Dawn's Early Light: The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner
by Steven Kroll


The problem, of course, is the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. And I think the best thing for me is to just research it and take a bunch of notes, and then narrow things down from there. I'm a little bit paralyzed by thinking that I'll miss something great that's right by us. So research is the answer here!

(My entire waldorfcurriculum.com website came about because I just wanted a place to keep notes. What main lesson blocks are done in each grade? Whenever I had any ideas for the blocks, I put my notes there so I wouldn't lose them. Then I had more notes because I had actually taught them. And even more notes because now I've taught them two or three or four times! But it all started basically as an outline of what was done when.)


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"The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail commemorates the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812 and gets its name from our national anthem. Consisting of water and overland routes, the trail extends from Virginia through southern Maryland, closely following the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. As this trail passes by the shoreline of Douglas Point Special Recreation Management Area in Charles County, Maryland, it follows the War of 1812 route of the British fleet, which chocked Washington, D.C. with shipping blockades and whose sailors ravaged the coastline of the Chesapeake Bay with frequent raids. This trail commemorates the people, events, and naval history, which inspired our national anthem."

- https://www.blm.gov/visit/star-spangled-banner-national-historic-trail


- from Star-Spangled Banner Fact Sheet


Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
brochure & map (PDF)


Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
Junior Ranger Activity Book
ages 6-12 (PDF)


I also found some lesson plans for teachers, but completing the Junior Ranger Activity Book will be enough for us.


Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Passport Stamp Locations:


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If we decide we don't want to get into Junior Ranger Activity Books, Passport Stamps, etc., we can always just look for roadside historical markers. I'd love to drive the length of Calvert County and just see where the British came through. (Of course, they also came up the waterways on either side of the county: Chesapeake Bay to the east and Patuxent River to the west.)

So, after all that research, I finally found a map that would really help me!

War of 1812 Battles
"Chesapeake Campaign"
Apr 23, 1813 - Sep 14, 1814
American Battlefield Trust (PDF)


These are the War of 1812 battles that took place in Calvert County MD:

Jun 11, 1814 - Hallowing Point

Jun 22, 1814 - Benedict

Jun 26, 1814 - St. Leonard Creek

Jul 2, 1814 - St. Leonard

Jul 16, 1814 - Calverton

Jul 17, 1814 - Huntingtown

Jul 19, 1814 - Prince Frederick


Even if we just stick to our county there's a LOT of information! Some ideas:

Solomons
Calvert Marine Museum exhibit
Menace on the Horizon marker


Jun 1


Jun 8-10 and Jun 26
Battles of St. Leonard Creek


Jun 15


Jun 15-17


Jun 17


Jun 26


Jul 19


Jul 21


Aug 19-20


Aug 19-30


Aug 19


Aug 20


The Burning of Washington was Aug 24-25. Fort McHenry was Sep 13-14.


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