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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

2019

MLauroahd Vaenresnsa MPeraistierr iotism

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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

MODERN PATRIOTISM

LAURAH MERISIER

A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Education

2019

Laurah Merisier defended this thesis on April 19, 2019. The members of the supervisory committee were:

Kimberly VanWeelden Professor Directing Thesis

Katarzyna Bugaj Committee Member

William Fredrickson Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-name committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my partner, Thomas, for being by my side throughout this whole process. Thank you for taking a leap of faith, uprooting our lives, and moving with me to Tallahassee to be my support system while I pursued my master’s degree. Thank you for the late-night cups of tea, for leaving the light on when you needed to sleep, and for locking yourself in the guest room so I could have uninterrupted writing time.

Thank you to my advisor and major professor Dr. VanWeelden. You have been so generous with me in giving me so many opportunities to learn and improve. Thank you for trusting me to teach Conducting and assisting you in Secondary General Music and Senior Choir.

Thank you for your patience throughout this thesis writing process. You have been such a role model for me.

Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Fredrickson and Dr. Bugaj, for your kindness and generosity. I enjoyed my time in both of your courses and felt an academic connection to the both of you. Dr. Fredrickson, you were the first professor in my experience at FSU to listen and accept my outspoken opinions, thank you. Dr. Bugaj, you were the first professor to encourage me to share these opinions in scholarly writing. You gave me the tools to express myself with my knowledge rather than my emotions, thank you.

Thank you to librarian extraordinaire, Laura Gayle Greene for always being available and willing to sit together and help. Thank you for your constant words of encouragement and your periodic check ins, you are such a thoughtful and kind soul.

Thank you to my family and friends who dealt with the great distance between us and always let me have the space I needed to be successful. Thank you for holding me up and keeping me tethered. I love you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii

ABSTRACT ...... viii

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1

1.1 Operational Definitions ...... 2

1.2 Purpose and Research Questions ...... 2

2 PATRIOTIC SONGS IN AMERICAN MUSIC EDUCATION ...... 4

2.1 History of Patriotic Music in the Classroom...... 4

2.1.1 World War I ...... 5

2.1.2 World War II...... 6

2.1.3 Following The War...... 8

2.1.4 Post-September 11, 2001 ...... 9

2.2 Patriotic Songs in Modern Music Education Curricula ...... 10

2.2.1 McGraw Hill’s Spotlight on Music Music Studio...... 11

2.2.2 Online Learning Exchange Interactive Music powered by Silver Burdett with Alfred ...... 12

2.2.3 John Jacobson’s Music Express ...... 12

2.2.4 Quaver Music ...... 13

3 HISTORY OF AMERICAN PATRIOTIC SONGS ...... 17

3.1 The American Revolution, 1763 – 1783 ...... 18

3.1.1 Liberty Song ...... 18

3.2 The New Nation, 1783-1815 ...... 23

3.2.1 Hail Columbia ...... 23

3.3. National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860...... 27

3.3.1 America ...... 27

3.3.2 Dixie ...... 31

3.4 Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861 – 1877 ...... 34

3.4.1 Battle Hymn of the Republic ...... 35

3.5 Rise of Industrial America, 1876 – 1900 ...... 38

3.5.1 America the Beautiful ...... 38

3.6 Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929 ...... 42

3.6.1 Lift Every Voice and Sing ...... 42

3.6.2 You’re a Grand Old Flag ...... 46

3.7 Great Depression and World War II, 1929 – 1945 ...... 50

3.7.1 God Bless America ...... 50

3.7.2 This Land Is Your Land ...... 54

3.8 Postwar United. States, 1945 – 1968 ...... 59

3.8.1 God Bless the U.S.A...... 59

4 THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER ...... 63

4.1 History of The Star-Spangled Banner ...... 64

4.2 Finding an Official National Anthem...... 68

4.2.1 Functions ...... 70

4.2.2 Oppositions ...... 74

4.2.3 Renditions ...... 76

5 CONCLUSION ...... 79

5.1 Explanation of the Research Questions ...... 79

5.1.1 What Role Does Music Education Curricula Play in Shaping American Patriotism? ...... 79

5.1.3 Is The Star-Spangled Banner the Best Song To Represent an Increasingly Diverse United States of America? ...... 81

5.2 Further Research ...... 82

5.3 Limitations ...... 84

5.4 Conclusion ...... 84

REFERENCES ...... 86

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 91

LIST OF FIGURES

1 Liberty Song in the Boston Gazette July 18, 1768 ...... 20

2 Sheet Music of Hail Columbia, the Favourite New Federal Song from Library of Congress, by Hopkinson, J...... 24

3 America, National Hymn in The Boston Academy's Collection of Church Music, 1836 ..... 28

4 Battle Hymn of the Republic in the Atlantic Monthly, February 1862 ...... 36

5 America by Katherine Lee Bates in the Congregationalist, July 4, 1895 ...... 41

6 National Hymn, Lift Evry Voice and Sing by Johnson, James Weldon, 1900 ...... 44

7 Advertisement for Yip, Yip, Yaphank in The New York Times, July 29, 1918 ...... 52

8 Photograph of Woody Guthrie and his guitar with the painted words "this machine kills fascists" ...... 56

9 Defence of Fort McHenry handbill, 1914 ...... 67

10 The first printed sheet music of the Star-Spangled Banner, from Carr’s Music store in Baltimore, Maryland, 1914 ...... 68

vii

ABSTRACT

This paper outlines the history of songs within the American patriotic song canon and their role within society and music education curricula in the public school systems of the past and present. A thorough examination of the functions of the text of patriotic songs includes praising American leaders and heroes, glorifying political ideologies and natural resources, reflecting cultural attitudes and concerns during specific eras and crises, describing military life and aspirations, communicating loyalties, invoking religious imagery, and general rejoicing.

Included is an analysis of each patriotic song, including The Star-Spangled Banner, and an examination of its tune, text, and performance practice of the specific circumstances of the time, culture, and environment in which it arose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of patriotic songs within the context of the United States of America’s history. Through examining the historical contexts of patriotic songs in the United States, this paper seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What role does music education curricula play in shaping American patriotism?

2. In what contexts and for what reasons have American patriotic songs been

composed?

3. Is the Star-Spangled Banner the best song to represent an increasingly diverse United

States of America?

Keywords: PATRIOTIC SONGS, NATIONAL ANTHEM, THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, MUSIC EDUCATION

viii

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

“Patriotic songs have boosted our morale in times of crisis, strengthened our resolve in

eras of uncertainty and rekindled pride in who we are, and what we represent, as a great

nation. Such songs speak to us as only music can, evoking feelings of national fervor

despite — or perhaps because of — their sometimes commonplace-to-cornball lyrics. It's

no coincidence that patriotic music has accompanied virtually every war the U.S. has

been involved in, save perhaps for the Afghan conflict.”

- John von Rhein (2010)

A Gallup poll conducted for the Fourth of July in 2018 reported a record-low for

American patriotism (Jones, 2018). Since Gallup began conducting surveys in 2000, they have been asking U.S. adults how proud they are to be American (Jones, 2018). In 2003, 70% of those surveyed responded they were “extremely proud” (Jones, 2018). This year, however, only 47% of people felt that way, with the largest decline within the last five years, especially among nonwhites, young adults, and recent college graduates (Jones, 2018). Gallup reports that these results imply a growing divide on several unfavorable issues including guns, labor unions, and the environment (Jones, 2018). This divide may be exacerbated by the disintegration of communities by political and religious differences, increased mobility, modification of family structures, technology, and mass media, as well as increased generational differences (Handel,

2016). Luckily, as said by Harvard ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay in an interview with National Public Radio, “We become a community when we sing together, and it makes us feel better” (Kogan, 2016, para. 26). Though patriotic songs are losing familiarity in public

schools, reigniting our relationship with them may be the antidote to the U.S.’s declining patriotism.

Patriotic songs have been the primary way that the American public has demonstrated its national pride since before the United States’s independence from Great Britain. With the introduction of national hymns in early public schools, to the viewing of The Star-Spangled

Banner at the start of Super Bowl games, patriotic songs have played an important role in shaping American values. This thesis begins with an overview of the historical role of patriotism in music education curricula in public schools in the United States, as well as provide a list of the patriotic songs currently included in modern curricula. The next chapter will supply the history of the most significant patriotic songs and their functions within the context of the timeline of

American memory. Before concluding, this thesis will present the history of the American

National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner, as well as a survey of its most notable performances, renditions, and criticisms.

1.1 Operational Definitions

In order to maintain clarity within this paper, the following operational definitions will be used throughout the text:

Patriotic Song: melodies sung with words that invoke patriotic pride.

Tune: a melody without words.

Text: specifies all words written for a patriotic song.

American Patriotic Song Canon: a categorization of all songs patriotic songs.

1.2 Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of patriotic songs within the context of the United States of America’s history. Through examining the historical contexts of patriotic

songs in the United States, this paper seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What role does music education curricula play in shaping American patriotism?

2. In what contexts and for what reasons have American patriotic songs been

composed?

3. Is the Star-Spangled Banner the best song to represent an increasingly diverse United

States of America?

CHAPTER 2

PATRIOTIC SONGS IN AMERICAN MUSIC EDUCATION

Katherine Meizel, a professor of ethnomusicology, along with many others, has proposed that American patriotism has been steadily declining (Meizel, 2006). The canon of patriotic songs functions as a way for the American people to communally invoke their civil and religious values (Meizel, 2006). Public school lessons have long included varying ratios of religious, nationalist, and popular music, sometimes implemented by music teachers, and at other times enforced by government agencies and leadership organizations. Music educators led by music education leadership organizations have tried to conclude what the most appropriate role music instruction can take in teaching patriotic values to the children of this nation. Over time, music education curricula and campaigns have been created to encourage the citizenry to sing together again (Schmid, 1996). This chapter provides a general overview of the history of music education curricula and instruction in the United States, examines the role patriotic songs played within these contexts, and identifies how campaigns and modern music education textbooks include patriotism.

2.1 History of Patriotic Music in the Classroom

The public-school system in the United States began in the mid-17th century. The idea of being able to express independent religious ideals was the premise on which the colonies were founded. Public schools introduced music education mainly to improve the quality of singing and musical literacy in 17th and 18th-century churches in the United States (Branscome, 2005). In the early 1800s, the system used singing to demonstrate devotion to the Christian God

(Jorgenson, 1995). During this time, psalms, hymns, and music of the Western European Art tradition were the only types of music included in public education (Branscome, 2005). Written

in 1831, The Juvenile Lyre, the first known American school songbook, was used in schools to improve morality and citizenship (Branscome, 2005). By the 1880s, the school system emphasized teaching music in a way more like the scientific construction of other disciplines, emphasizing reading skills and historical knowledge (Warfield, 2018).

2.1.1 World War I

At the start of the First World War, the country began banding together with a growing sense of nationalism that turned into a desire for increased patriotism (Branscome, 2005, Mark &

Gary, 1999). Quickly following the start of the war, patriotism and the singing of patriotic music became a significant focus of the American music education system (Branscome, 2005). In 1914, a textbook series called The Progressive Music Series was among the first to be implemented into public schools to include culture and nationalism through the instruction of patriotic music, the American flag, and the pledge of allegiance (Branscome, 2005; NAfME, n.d.).

The United States was entering the Progressive era, which was marked by the need to be rid of inefficiencies (Warfield, 2018). Music education curricula interpreted the many variations of the beloved patriotic song, The Star-Spangled Banner, as inefficiency in instruction (Warfield,

2018). By the spring of 1917, a music division committee of the National Education Association, consisting of the nation’s top conductors, historians, and educators, came together to establish a standardized version of The Star-Spangled Banner (Warfield, 2018). To make it more singable, the arrangers added vocal harmonies that they hoped would inspire school children to want to sing together (Warfield, 2018).

Patriotic fervor was at an all-time high, directing the people’s focus towards U.S. national symbols (Warfield, 2018). Music education programs were emphasizing their national symbols, including patriotic songs, within their instruction, which sparked what Patrick Warfield refers to

as the “mass singing movement” (Warfield, 2018, p. 286). This movement added to the established canon, which cemented a shared sense of nationalism, love of flag and country, and also aided in the creation of a more industrialized people as the mass singing movement

“mirrored the relationship between assembly line workers and the original unity of the factory”

(Warfield, 2018, p. 286). Following the war, music textbooks with an emphasis on the pledge of allegiance, the American flag, and other patriotic materials maintained their popularity

(Branscome, 2005).

2.1.2 World War II

The Second World War was beginning in Europe, inspiring a nationalism movement on that side of the world. It started to become clear that the United States would enter to help their allies. After the U.S. entered into World War II, the Music Educators National Conference

(MENC) along with American government agencies, implemented curricula within the public- school system that could support the war effort (Beegle, 2004). Following the start of the war, a massive immigration movement into the United States contributed to the country’s reputation as a melting pot but also infused American citizens with a renewed sense of nationalism

(Branscome, 2005). The return of nationalist values resulted in growing involvement in patriotic music and materials in general music classrooms and at community events (Beegle, 2004).

Late in 1940, music education leadership organizations MENC, Music Teachers National

Association (MTNA), and the National Association of School Music (NASM) pledged to support a new program called American Unity Through Music that promoted national solidarity, inspired pride, and boosted the population’s morale (Beegle, 2004; Goble, 2009). The program encouraged playing and singing songs that bolstered patriotic zeal (Goble, 2009). The first recommendation written on the report stated: “The fervent and frequent singing of our national

and patriotic songs, with the full understanding of their meaning both as to word content and as to their significance regarding the history and future of our country” (Goble, 2009, p. 106). The organizations encouraged music educators to feature patriotic songs and songs that could

“stimulate loyalty and fidelity to American ideals and principles and allegiance to the American flag” (Goble, 2009, p. 105). The implementation of this program added rules of etiquette, including singing at the beginning and end of student, faculty, and administrative gatherings; during flag-raisings; and the inclusion of school bands in community parades. Within the music education curriculum, the new program added music of American composers, as well as music of cultural groups of the United States and Latin America to the historically religious and European- centered lesson topics (Beegle, 2004). The leadership organizations believed they could use music education to positively unite the American people (Goble, 2009).

In April 1942 a resolution was sent to President Roosevelt from the Council of Past

Presidents of MENC pledging to assist in the war effort through the participation of music educators and their students in patriotic programs, rallies, and other community events (Beegle,

2004). Participation in the war efforts resulted in philosophical difficulties for music educators.

They were made to choose between what they believed their students needed to learn and what their leadership organizations were asking of them (Goble, 2009). Music educators had to teach the correct singing of the national anthem, participate in patriotic community events, and provide music to those in war camps, hospitals, and factories (Beegle, 2004). By the next year, the

MENC president established Program for Music Education in Wartime, wherein every music educators were expected to direct their teachings entirely towards assisting the government in war service and peace planning (Beegle, 2004). This program encouraged the teaching of

American patriotic songs as well as songs of allied nations to be performed by music classes at victory parades, festivals, bond rallies, drives, and performances for the military (Beegle, 2004).

2.1.3 Following The War

In the years following the war, the space race, and the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957, shifted the focus of the public education system away from culture and to a more scientific approach (Branscome, 2005). European methods of music instruction, like Carl Orff’s Schulwerk and Zoltan Kodály’s Kodaly method, emphasizing music reading, folk songs, improvisation, and the playing of melodies, accompaniment patterns, ostinato, and classroom instruments arrived in the United States in

1958 and were immediately applied (Branscome, 2005). The 1967 symposium at the Tanglewood

Music Center reassessed the purpose of music curricula in public education and society

(Branscome, 2005). The Convention declared that music education should be encompassing of music from all genres, cultures, and periods (Branscome, 2005). Two years later, the Youth

Music Institute ensured the inclusion of popular music within music education curriculum

(Branscome, 2005).

During the second half of the century, music education within the American public- school system was no longer being considered an academic subject because of its lack of standardization. Responses to this critique resulted in what is known as the education reform movement. To standardize the subject, MENC adopted nine content standards for elementary music education (Branscome, 2005). By this time, music education curricula emphasized patriotism as well as world music and seemed to maintain its distance from governmental agencies dictating curricula. As nationalism continued to fade from the school systems, the leadership organizations once again wanted to inspire the American people to sing together the

praises of this land. In 1995 a campaign called Get America Singing... Again! was launched by

MENC. It included two songbook volumes made for classroom teachers and their students. The books were made up of a collection of songs including American patriotic songs and folk songs, aimed to establish a familiar repertoire and promote community singing to a new generation in standards-based classroom lessons (NAfME, n.d.).

2.1.4 Post-September 11, 2001

In the wake of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., followed by the war in Iraq, the theme of American unity in school returned

(Beegle, 2004). There was a resurgence in the prevalence of patriotic music in American communities, and especially in school music classrooms (Beegle, 2004). MENC launched the

National Anthem Project, an organization-wide campaign “to reteach Americans to sing The

Star-Spangled Banner” and as a result, promote patriotism (Goble, 2009, p. 116). The leadership organization filled their website with suggestions for the inclusion of patriotic songs back into lessons (Beegle, 2004). Criticism of the project paralleled criticisms of the War in Iraq, believing that the teaching of patriotic songs and the national anthem was a form of propaganda in support of the unjustified engagement in the conflict (Goble, 2009).

Over a decade later, The Star-Spangled Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was founded on September 14, 2012, by Dr. Mark Clague, a musicology professor from the

University of Michigan (Robin, 2014). He created an educational project in collaboration with other musicians, scholars, and educators to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Frances Scott

Key’s the Star-Spangled Banner in 2014. The foundation was focused on initiatives for

Kindergarten though 12th grade educational environments, teaching the history, etiquette, and content of the national anthem (Star Spangled Music, n.d.).

Today, music education in the United States is attempting to reconcile its overtly religious, industrial, and nationalist perspectives (Goble, 2009). Music educators as well as music education leadership organizations like MENC, now called the National Association for

Music Education (NAfME), are seeking to understand the balance between the instruction of principles of democracy and the appropriate use of music education within a democratic nation

(Goble, 2009). A search through the NAfME lesson plan bank for the keyword ‘patriotic’ result in lesson plans about the life of John Philip Sousa and Francis Scott Key, as well as the songs the

Star-Spangled Banner, Hail Columbia, Ruffles and Flourishes, and Hail the Chief.

2.2 Patriotic Songs in Modern Music Education Curricula

Historically, the United States public education system and music education leadership organizations have chosen to endorse some widely accepted school text series including Music and You (Statton et al. 1988), Share the Music (Bond et al. 1995), The Music Connection

(Beethoven et al. 1995), Making Music (Beethoven et al., 2005), and Jump Right In (Taggart et al., 1990) (Branscome, 2005). This section will look at four of the most popular music education resources of today, McGraw Hill’s Spotlight on Music online Music Studio, the Online Learning

Exchange Interactive Music powered by Silver Burdett with Alfred, John Jacobson’s Music

Express, and Quaver Music, and identify which patriotic songs are present within the recommended curricula. To understand the role of patriotism in music education today, long after the World Wars, and almost two decades after the September 11th attacks, Table 1 identifies these modern programs and the patriotic songs that appear within the indexes of the four curricula. The songs within this table are labeled explicitly as patriotic music within the content; however, not all the songs are a part of the canon of American patriotic songs. The patriotic canon only includes “songs that have boosted morale in times of crisis, strengthened our resolve

in eras of uncertainty and rekindled pride in who [Americans] are, and what [they] represent, as a great nation” (von Rhein, 2010, para. 2). Songs like Fifty Nifty United States, though patriotic because it speaks about the country, is not considered to be a part of the canon because it was explicitly written as an educational tool and has not historically inspired national pride.

2.2.1 McGraw Hill’s Spotlight on Music Music Studio

MacMillan/McGraw-Hill initially published the Spotlight on Music textbooks and curricula in 2005. The textbooks provided opportunities for Kindergarten through eighth grade students to understand music skills and concepts, perform music, read music notation, and celebrate music with age-appropriate music learning materials (McGraw Hill, n.d.). Since its initial publication, the Spotlight on Music program, in partnership with Hal Leonard, Music

Theatre International, and From the Top has incorporated an online platform called Music Studio.

This platform contains all the information from the original textbooks with the addition of new interactive materials and lesson plans for teacher and students home and classroom use. Music

Studio contains more than 1,300 songs, now offered for all grades. Voices in Concert is their sixth through twelfth grade choral repertoire curriculum. Music! Its Role and Importance in Our

Lives is the high school general music curriculum (McGraw Hill, n.d.).

The Music Studio Marketplace on the McGraw Hill Education website offers three subscription-based courses that highlight American music. The first, Celebrating Our American

Heritage for grades Pre-Kindergarten through five, contains American folk songs, but no patriotic songs. The second, God Bless America, their patriotic collection for kindergarten through twelfth grade students contains lessons that include God Bless America, Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless the U.S.A., the Star-Spangled-Banner, America (My Country ‘Tis of

Thee), America the Beautiful, and (I’m a) Yankee Doodle Dandy. The third, Patriotic Partners

for students in third through eighth grade, features lessons that include America the Beautiful,

Yankee Doodle Boy, You're A Grand Old Flag, and America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee). Other than these three courses, their only textbook-like curriculum that contains patriotic music is called Music Rocks! for students in grades three through eight, which includes curricular units that highlight Lift Every Voice and Sing, and This Is My Country (McGraw Hill, n.d.).

2.2.2 Online Learning Exchange Interactive Music powered by Silver Burdett with Alfred

Silver Burdett company created its first music learning series in 1930. It was one of the first classroom textbook series to include photographs of children of varying ethnicities and abilities actively participating in music making (Branscome, 2005). Since that time, Silver

Burdett continues to be a leader in the progress of music learning materials made for use in the classroom. Today, the Online Learning Exchange Interactive Music courses powered by Silver

Burdett with Alfred is a fully digital program developed by Pearson and Alfred Music to give teachers access to various activities for their students in Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade classrooms. The lessons include philosophies, interactive lessons, interactive notation activities, national standards, music, and listening maps for use with an interactive whiteboard or computer.

Their curricula are prescribed and include music from all periods, genres, and cultures. Each grade-level offers some interaction with patriotic music, with fifth grade containing the most, and seventh grade containing the least (see Table 1).

2.2.3 John Jacobson’s Music Express

Music Express Magazine, published by Hal Leonard and founded by John Jacobson, is an internationally recognized music educator, choreographer, and author. Music Express is a complete Kindergarten through sixth grade curriculum. With an annual subscription to Music

Express, music educators get access to one teacher magazine, 30 printed student magazines, a

CD, online audio and visual, and digital lessons published six times a year. Each publication includes five new songs, lesson plans, and access to the Music Express Digital Lessons which feature digital sheet music, listening maps, recordings, as well as choreography videos. Over the years, Music Express magazine has published several patriotic editions, most often in September, as this is the anniversary month of the composition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

2.2.4 Quaver Music

Quaver Music is the most purchased general music education curriculum for grades pre- kindergarten to eighth (Quaver, n.d.). It is one of the few music education curricula offered all over the world. Their curriculum resources encompass popular international teaching pedagogies including Orff, Kodaly, and Gordon to create content, and uses technology to enhance them.

Quaver Music provides an online curriculum that focuses on interactive content optimized for the classroom along with solid back up resources when experiencing technical difficulties. Being an international program, Quaver Music has done its due diligence in creating an inclusive curriculum, including lessons on music from all cultures. The platform is consistently being updated, with the addition of popular and cultural music. Surprisingly, Quaver Music includes many lessons that highlight American patriotic music.

Table 1

Patriotic songs included within Music Education textbooks.

Textbook

Song Title McGraw Hill Silver Burdett Music Express Quaver Music

A Time to Remember* X X

America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) X X X

Table 1 - continued

Patriotic songs included within Music Education textbooks.

Textbook

Song Title McGraw Hill Silver Burdett Music Express Quaver Music

America, I Give My Thanks to X

You*

America, My Homeland* X

America, the Beautiful X X X

American Salute* X

Anacreontic Song, The X

Battle Hymn of the Republic X X

Blue Wash Samba Medley* X

Eagle* X

Fifty Nifty United States X

Gallant Seventh, The X

George Washington X

Gladiator Song, The X

God Bless America X X X

God Bless the U.S.A. X X X

I Hear America Singing* X

I Love America* X

I Love My Country* X

I Pledge Allegiance* X

If I Could Vote* X

Table 1 - continued

Patriotic songs included within Music Education textbooks.

Textbook

Song Title McGraw Hill Silver Burdett Music Express Quaver Music

Let’s Sing, America!* X

Liberty Bell March X

Lift Every Voice and Sing X X

Marine’s Hymn, The X

Music in the Military* X

National Emblem March* X

Of Thee I Sing, America* X

Old Texas X

Over There X

Patriotic Medley* X

Semper Fidelis March X

Sing, America Sing!* X

Spirit of America, The* X

Star-Spangled Banner, The X X X X

Stars & Stripes * X

Stars and Stripes Forever X X

Taps X

Texas in My Soul X

Texas, Our Texas X

This is America* X

This is My Country X X X

Table 1 - continued

Patriotic songs included within Music Education textbooks.

Textbook

Song Title McGraw Hill Silver Burdett Music Express Quaver Music

This Land is Your Land X

Thunderer, The* X

Variations on America* X

Washington Post, The X X

We Live the Dream* X

We Remember* X

We The People* X

Welcome Home* X

When Johnny Comes Marching In X X

When the Flag Goes By*

Yankee Doodle X X X X

Yankee Doodle Boy X

Yellow Rose of Texas, The X

You're a Grand Old Flag X X X

Note: An * denotes a song that is not part of the establish canon of American patriotic songs.

CHAPTER 3

HISTORY OF AMERICAN PATRIOTIC SONGS

“Songs have seen us through moments of crisis as well as times of joy. Songs have

helped us work, have united and divided us, they have demonstrated our faith in all its

diversity, and have reflected our scorn. Songs can illuminate our understanding of the

history of the American people better than any other vehicle because they carry with

them sentiments that can be expressed in multiple ways”

-Mariana Whitmer (2005)

Distinctly American patriotic songs were created as early as before the American

Revolution with the first, Liberty Song, written in 1769. Since that time, many patriotic songs have been written either by civilians or government agencies, most recently God Bless the USA was published in 1983 by a civilian, Lee Greenwood. Civilians wrote patriotic songs usually to inspire other civilians to share in the lyricist’s pride for their country, government, or military.

Government agencies, like the Army, wrote made-to-order patriotic songs to encourage patriotism among civilians and soldiers (Rikard, 2004). Thus, when looking at the canon as a whole, song texts can fulfill one or more the following functions: praising American leaders and heroes, glorifying political ideologies and natural resources, reflecting cultural attitudes and concerns during specific eras and crises, describing military life and aspirations, communicating loyalties, invoking religious imagery, and general rejoicing (Rikard, 2004; Schafer, 2018).

Furthermore, each patriotic song, including the tune, text, and performance practice, is born out of the specific circumstances of the time, culture, and environment in which it arose.

It is essential to discuss the events that surround the formation of each song to understand its relevance at the time of its creation and beyond. With a growing and diversifying population

of the United States, patriotic song texts alluding to the Christian God, presenting ideas of bomb and gun violence, and reflecting bygone eras (Kogan, 2016) no longer reflecting the values and population of this country today.

3.1 The American Revolution, 1763 – 1783

Before and during the French and Indian War, the British Empire left the American colonies alone. Following the end of the war in 1763, the British victory left them with enormous war debt. To reignite the economy, the British government reformed colonial administration, enforced tax laws and placed British troops in America. These changes led to direct conflicts with the American colonists, resulting in a strained relationship between British America and the

British Empire (American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.1.1 Liberty Song

The first American patriotic song was called Liberty Song (Riis, 2015). Eight lines of two stanzas were written by Arthur Lee, a Virginian who helped organize protests against the

Townsend Acts of 1767 — a series of British crown taxes levied on the colonies which placed import taxes on many items and enraged the American population (Crawford, 1976. Moore,

1856. Riggs, 1970. Schlesinger, 1954). Lee sent his unfinished Liberty Song to his friend and member of the Pennsylvania Assembly and first Continental Congress, John Dickinson (Moore,

1856). Dickinson finished the poem and had it published in the Boston Gazette on July 18, 1768

(Crawford, 1976). The Boston Gazette was often contributed to by early advocates of political and religious liberty (Moore, 1856). A few days after it was first published, Dickinson sent a corrected copy to another friend, Mr. Otis saying, “I enclosed you the other day a copy of a song composed in great haste. I think it was rather too bold. I now send a corrected copy which I like

better (Moore, 1856).” The corrected copy added the following text between the fourth and fifth stanzas:

How sweet are the labors that freemen endure

That they shall enjoy all the profit, secure

No more such sweet labors Americans know,

If Britons shall reap what Americans sow.

In freedom we’re born. (Moore, 1856)

As was common practice in early America, patriots often supplied words to traditional folk melodies, to have an advantage of being familiar to the public (Riis, 2015; Schlesinger,

1954). Thus, the complete Liberty Song was published on a ballad sheet in September 1768, set to the tune of the well-known English sea chanty, Hearts of Oak as well as printed on broadsheets posted in towns preceded by the text “To be sung to the tune of ...”(Moore, 1856;

Riis, 2015. Whitmer, 2005).

Liberty Song was the first song ever written to express American Patriotism (Dickinson

College Archives, 2005). It is also regarded as the most instantly popular patriotic ballad and

American song of propaganda of the Revolutionary era (Crawford, 1976; Riggs, 1970).

Throughout the colonies, at political meetings, dinners, and celebrations, the text was sung and regarded as a plea for the maintenance of American rights as British subjects (Dickinson College

Archives, 2005). His arguments and votes against declaring independence from Britain at the

Continental Congress in 1776 evidenced Dickson's desire to remain a British subject (Crawford,

1976).

The text of Liberty Song expresses thoughts of freedom (Whitmer, 2005). They reflect the patriot attitude toward the changes in British imperial rule (Shlesinger, 1954). The sixth verse

marks the first appearance of the famous patriotic slogan, “united we stand, divided we fall.”

(Kass & Kass, 2011). The final stanza toasts to“our Sovereigner’s health” (i.e., King George) and

“Britannia’s glory and wealth,” somewhat conditionally (Kass & Kass, 2011).

Figure 1: Liberty Song in the Boston Gazette July 18, 1768

Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all,

And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call;

No tyrannous acts, shall suppress your just claim,

Or stain with dishonor America's name.

In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live;

Our purses are ready,

Steady, Friends, steady,

Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give.

Our worthy forefathers - let's give them a cheer -

To climates unknown did courageously steer;

Thro' oceans to deserts, for freedom they came,

And dying bequeath'd us their freedom and fame.

In freedom we’re born

Their generous bosoms all dangers despis'd,

So highly, so wisely, their birthrights they priz'd;

We'll keep what they gave, we will piously keep,

Nor frustrate their toils on the land or the deep.

In freedom we’re born

The Tree, their own hands had to Liberty rear'd,

They lived to behold growing strong and rever'd;

With transport then cried, - " Now our wishes we gain,

For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain."

In freedom we’re born

How sweet are the labors that freemen endure,

That they shall enjoy all the profit, secure, -

No more such sweet labors Americans know,

If Britons shall reap what Americans sow,

In freedom we’re born

Swarms of placemen and pensioners' soon will appear,

Like locusts deforming the charms of the year:

Suns vainly will rise, showers vainly descend,

If we are to drudge for what others shall spend.

In freedom we’re born

Then join hand in hand brave Americans all,

By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall;

In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed,

For Heaven approves of each generous deed.

In freedom we’re born

All ages shall speak with amaze and applause,

Of the courage we'll show in support of our laws;

To die we can bear, - but to serve we disdain,

For shame is to freemen more dreadful than pain.

In freedom we’re born

This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health,

And this for Britannia's glory and wealth;

That wealth, and that glory immortal may be,

If she is but just, and we are but free.

In freedom we're born, and in freedom we’ll live

Our purses are ready,

Steady, Friends, steady,

Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give.

3.2 The New Nation, 1783-1815

After winning Independence from Great Britain after the Revolutionary War in 1783,

Americans began experimenting with new forms of self-government at local and state levels. The results of these experiments were the Articles of Confederation followed by a new Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president, doubled the size of the new nation by purchasing the

Louisiana Territory from France. James Madison, Jefferson’s successor, led the nation through the War of 1812, which solidified the United States’ nationhood, independent of Great Britain

(American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.2.1 Hail Columbia

George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, the same year the French Revolution began. At his inauguration, a tune called

The President’s March, composed by Philip Phile, a Philadelphia man, was played (Kowalski,

2013). By Washington’s fourth year in office, France was at war with England and Prussia

(Lyons, 1942). During his two terms as president, Americans were politically divided between the Republicans, today known as the Democratic Party, who favored “Republican France” and the Federalists, who favored England (American Memory Timeline, n.d.; Lyons, 1942).

In 1798, Gilbert Fox, a Philadelphian actor, was performing at a local theatre. To yield a crowd, he asked his friend, Joseph Hopkinson, to write words to The President’s March, the most famous American tune of the time, which he retitled The Favourite, New Federal Song (Lyons,

1942). On the morning of the performance, an advertisement was posted throughout

Philadelphia.

Figure 2: Sheet Music of Hail Columbia, the Favourite New Federal Song from Library of Congress, by Hopkinson, J.

The announcement packed the house, and the show was a huge financial success for Mr.

Fox. All audiences, including those atypical, such as women and European immigrants, came to see the show. It is reported that Washington’s successor, President Adams, and his cabinet attended the performance, demanded multiple encores of the song, and left the theatre singing together (Lyons, 1942).

The lyrics reflected the cultural need to band together in an unstable time so close to the birth of the country. Although Americans were divided, the song resonated with everyone. Over

time, the name changed to Hail, Columbia, Death or Liberty, and is now just called Hail

Columbia (Lyons, 1942). In the fourth verse, the text Praises the first leader of this new land.

Verse 1:

Hail Columbia, happy land!

Hail, ye heroes, heav’n-born band,

Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,

And when the storm of war was gone

Enjoy’d the peace your valor won.

Let independence be our boast,

Ever mindful what it cost;

Ever grateful for the prize,

Let its altar reach the skies.

Refrain:

Firm, united let us be,

Rallying round our liberty,

As a band of brothers joined,

Peace and safety we shall find.

Verse 2:

Immortal patriots, rise once more,

Defend your rights, defend your shore!

Let no rude foe, with impious hand,

Invade the shrine where sacred lies

Of toil and blood, the well-earned prize,

While off’ring peace, sincere and just,

In Heaven’s we place a manly trust,

That truth and justice will prevail,

And every scheme of bondage fail.

Refrain

Verse 3:

Behold the chief who now commands,

Once more to serve his country stands.

The rock on which the storm will break,

But armed in virtue, firm, and true,

His hopes are fixed on Heav’n and you.

When hope was sinking in dismay,

When glooms obscured Columbia’s day,

His steady mind, from changes free,

Resolved on death or liberty.

Refrain

Verse 4:

Sound, sound the trump of fame,

Let Washington’s great fame

Ring through the world with loud applause,

Let ev’ry clime to freedom dear,

Listen with a joyful ear,

With equal skill, with God-like pow’r

He governs in the fearful hour

Of horrid war, or guides with ease

The happier time of honest peace.

Refrain

3.3. National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860

Following the War of 1812, the United States became the world’s largest democracy, granting the right to vote to all white adult males. During this time of political reformation, the new nation expanded geographically from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This westward expansion proved fruitful for white settlers, but it displaced Native Americans and Mexicans and expanded the territory of African-American slavery that led to increasing conflicts between the North and

South. Democracy, territorial expansion, and religious revivals led to social reforms that included promoting temperance, creating public school systems, abolishing slavery, gaining rights for women, and improving the treatment of prisoners, the mentally ill, and the poor. This reformation began to decline in the 1850s as a result of the increasing conflict between the North and South over slavery (American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.3.1 America

Lowell Mason, a teacher at Andover Seminary, was given German songbooks and asked

Samuel Francis Smith, a student, to translate any that could be used in his public school music classes (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942). Mr. Smith was unimpressed with all but one tune, which

inspired him to write new lyrics in less than half an hour (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942). He called the new rendition My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, and merely returned the songbooks and the new poem to Mr. Mason without further thought (Lyons, 1942). It was not until the celebration of

Declaration Day on July 4, 1832, in Boston, Massachusetts that a chorus of 500 children from

Mr. Mason’s public school music program sang the song as a surprise to Mr. Smith (Collins,

2003; Lyons, 1942). After the song’s debut performance, critics brought to Smith’s attention that the beautiful text of his poem was set to the same tune as used by the British in their anthem,

God Save the King, and suggested a new melody be written (Collins, 2003). In response, Smith admitted he had never previously heard that tune, but since the tune’s origin was unknown, decided to keep the song as it was (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942). While the song was well received, it was once again forgotten until it was published in The Boston Academy four years later. Within that book, it was found under the title America, National Hymn.

Figure 3: America, National Hymn in The Boston Academy's Collection of Church Music, 1836

The song is hymn-like, peaceful, and easy to sing (Lyons, 1942). It is simple and possesses a very unchallenging range and straightforward melody (Collins, 2003). Knowing that

the tune was used to salute great rulers in Great Britain, it lacked the pomp and circumstance that usually accompanied these types of tunes (Collins, 2003).

By the 1850s, America found its way into a few Christian hymnals; however, the song was not favored in the United States until the start of the Civil War in 1861 (Collins, 2003;

Lyons, 1942). It was during this conflict that Americans began to lean on patriotic symbols and songs, and America aroused patriotism, expressed love of liberty, served as a symbol of solidarity and strength, and celebrate freedom (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942). As the song became more popular, the title was shortened to America and Smith had this to say:

“I did not intend to write a national hymn, nor did I ever think that my song, written on

the spur of the moment, would become so famous. Little did I realize that what I was

writing would mean so much to my people. Such as it is, I am glad to have done

something for the cause of American freedom (Lyons, 1942, p. 30).”

After the war, America was adopted as the unofficial anthem of the United States, as it continued to evoke the glory and dignity of the American spirit (Lyons, 1942). However, though the origin of the tune remained unknown, Americans were reluctant to use the song as the official national anthem because the British had already claimed it as their own.

Despite negative sentiments towards the tune, the text has inspired Americans since its inception. (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942) As Olivier Wendall Holmes, Smith’s classmate Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court stated:

“If [Smith] had said, ‘Our Country,’ the hymn would not have been immortal, but that

‘My’ was a masterstroke. Everyone who sings the hymn at once feels a personal

ownership in this native land. The hymn will last as long as the country.” (Collins, 2003,

p. 137)

Thus, it may not be surprising that when the Union flag was shot down at Fort Sumter in 1861,

President Lincoln ordered the song to be sung as an attempt to mend the nation’s broken heart.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also used the song when he quoted the first verse in its entity during his famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech to emphasize that all Americans were owed the same liberties and freedoms (Collins, 2003). Today, it is estimated the song has been sung more often than any other, including the current national anthem (Collins, 2003)

Verse 1:

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing:

Land where my fathers died!

Land of the Pilgrims' pride!

From every mountainside

Let Freedom Ring!

Verse 2:

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love:

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills

Like that above.

Verse 3:

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees

Sweet Freedom's song:

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break,

The song prolong.

Verse 4:

Our father's God, to Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing:

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's holy light;

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God, our King!

3.3.2 Dixie In 1858, Daniel Decatur Emmet joined a minstrel company in New York City that put on performances where actors came out in blackface and told stories, danced jigs, cracked jokes, played instruments, and sang songs to make people laugh (Lyons, 1942). Emmet’s responsibility in the company was to create hooray songs, which were witty and amusing encore songs performed while actors walked around the stage (Lyons, 1942). On April 2, 1859, a cold and gloomy New York day, Emmet was inspired to write the opening line of text, “I wish I was in

Dixie” because he wished to have a job in the sunny south rather than what he had in the cold

north (Lyons, 1942). Following its premiere two days later, the song became a staple among traveling minstrel companies, who brought the song to all corners of the country.

Dixie was first heard in the southern United States in New Orleans just before the start of the Civil War in 1861 (Lyons, 1942). For Confederates, the song text quickly became synonymous with their identity as southerners and exemplified their loyalty to the Confederacy

(Schafer, 2018). However, it is thought for African Americans in the area; the term dixie referred to Mr. Dixie, a New York farmer who housed runaway slaves on his property known as “Dixie- land,” a land of “peace and plenty”(Lyons, 1942, p. 45). Therefore, during the Civil War, the song was used in various contexts — on the battlefield, in camp, on plantations, and the march

— but is most well-known as the official war song of the Confederacy (Lyons, 1942). At the close of the war in 1865, President Lincoln ordered the tune of Dixie be played in Washington D.

C. stating, “We have captured the Confederate Army; we have also captured the Confederate tune, and both belong to us” (Lyons, 1942, p. 44). Although a northerner wrote the song, southerners felt that Lincoln’s act of taking their anthem was the greatest of insults to them

(Lyons, 1942).

Verse 1:

I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times dar am not forgotten,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

In Dixie Land whar’ I was born in,

Early on one frosty mornin’,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Verse 2:

Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!

In Dixie land, I’ll take my stand to live and die in Dixie; Away, away, away down south in Dixie,

Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Old Missus marry Will-de-weaber,

Willium was a gay deceaber; Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land. But when he put his arm around ‘er

Smiled as fierce as a forty-pounder,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Refrain:

Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!

In Dixie land, I’ll take my stand to live and die in Dixie; Away, away, away down south in Dixie,

Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Verse 3:

His face was sharp as a butcher’s cleaver,

But dat did not seem to greab ‘er;

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land. Old Missus acted the foolish part,

And died for a man dat broke her heart,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Refrain

Verse 4:

Now here’s a health to the next old Missus,

And all the gals dat want to kiss us;

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land. But if you want to drive ‘way sorrow,

Come and hear dis song to-morrow,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Refrain

Verse 5:

Dar’s buckwheat cakes an’ Injun batter,

Makes you fat or a little fatter;

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land. Den hoe it down and scratch your

grabble,

To Dixie’s land I’m bound to trabble,

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

Refrain

3.4 Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861 – 1877

The election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 led to eleven southern states seceding from the Federal Union by the end of the following year. The North was becoming increasingly industrial and commercial while the South remained mostly agricultural. Northerners generally wanted to limit the advancement of slavery, some wanting to abolish it altogether, while the

Southerners generally wanted to maintain and, in some cases, expand it. The goal was to establish an independent Confederacy of states that protected the institution of slavery.

Northerners, who remained in the Union, insisted that the secession was unconstitutional and threatened to use military force to keep the south as a part of the Union. This threat led to an expensive and gruesome civil war. It became the deadliest war in the history of the United States

of America (American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

After four years of battle, the union was forcibly restored. The South had been economically and aesthetically devastated, freedmen had nowhere to go, and the creation of state governments that would be loyal to the Union proved difficult. Though it took many decades following the Civil War, reconstruction resulted in the United States becoming a global industrial giant, introducing petroleum refining, steel manufacturing, and electrical power industries emerging as well as the significant expansion of the railroad system. Industrial growth produced a new wealthy class, a prosperous middle class, and an expanded blue collar working class

(American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.4.1 Battle Hymn of the Republic

In December 1861, Julia Ward Howe, a Bostonian anti-slavery writer, and her traveling companions, including her husband, minister, and Governor were riding back to Boston from

Washington D.C. During their trip, they were delayed due to Union soldiers blocking the streets while awaiting an impending attack by the Confederacy (Collins, 2003). While sitting in their carriage, they heard a few of the soldiers singing William Steffe’s famous 1856 song John

Brown’s Body. The imagery created by the text, “John Brown’s Body lies a-moldering in the grave,” disgusted the minister who believed such a powerful tune should not accompany such miserable words (Collins, 2003) and suggested Howe write new text (Lyons, 1940). To his request, Howe replied, “I am afraid that I could never write a poem worthy of such a song, or worthy of these times. However, to please [you] dear old man, I promise to try” (Lyons, 1940, p.

62).

By the next morning, Howe had written five new stanzas but decided to keep the existing

“Glory, Hallelujah” refrain. She first sang it to her husband, then shared it with her minister, and

finally took it to her friend, editor of The Atlantic Monthly, who printed it under the title Battle

Hymn of the Republic in February 1862 (Lyons, 1940). Though it was known that Howe was the author and she was paid five dollars for her contribution, she was not credited in the publication

(Lyons, 1940). After that, the song was reprinted in numerous magazines and newspapers and quickly gained popularity throughout the Union (Collins, 2003). As the song became more well- known, Americans began asking for the name of the author, and were surprised to find out that it was a “sweet, gentle woman (Lyons, 1940, p. 63)." Furthermore, because text fit the grave mood of the soldiers, and reflected the solemn task that the nation faced, the Union government forces adopted the Battle Hymn of the Republic as their official war song. After the victory at

Gettysburg in 1865, the song was performed to a crowd in Washington D.C. that included

President Lincoln by a Union Fighting Chaplain who had been a prisoner-of-war. It is reported that the President, with tears in his eyes, cried out to the Chaplain, to “Sing it again (Lyons,

1942, p. 65)!” Following the end of the war, Battle Hymn of the Republic was embraced by

African Americans as a symbol of peace.

Figure 4: Battle Hymn of the Republic in the Atlantic Monthly, February 1862, Vol. 9 Issue 52, p. 145

Verse 1:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

Refrain:

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

Verse 2:

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

Refrain

Verse 3:

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on."

Refrain

Verse 4:

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

Refrain

Verse 5:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

Refrain

3.5 Rise of Industrial America, 1876 – 1900

The new American labor force was made up of millions of newly arrived immigrants from foreign lands and migrants from rural areas. These workers were typically unemployed for at least part of the year, and their wages were low when they did work. The lack of employment and low wages resulted in the forming and joining of labor unions. Financial hardships caused by technological advancements and increased production demands led to greater competition and the falling price of products. These hardships led to the migration of millions from rural America to the rapidly growing industrial cities in search of better financial opportunities (American

Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.5.1 America the Beautiful

The most famous American patriotic song ever written is America the Beautiful (Collins,

2003). In the summer of 1893, Katherine Lee Bates, an English professor in Chicago, Illinois

was invited to teach a course in Colorado Springs, Colorado (Collins, 2003). Before leaving,

Bates attended the Chicago World’s Fair, where she saw the first American Ferris Wheel. On the journey from Chicago to Colorado Springs, the professor saw the country’s wonders, including the Rocky Mountains (Collins, 2003), and the industrial progress taking place in the West

(Lyons, 1942). It was on a tour up Pike’s Peak that she stated she saw flowers, trees, snowcapped peaks, drop-offs, wheat fields, blue and purple mountains, green valleys, amber prairies, as well as cities, towns, rivers, roads, trains, and farmhouses (Collins, 2003; Lyons, 1942). From the Pike’s

Peak summit the words of the poem, America the Beautiful, came to her (Collins, 2003).

Two summers later, Bates submitted her poem to the magazine, the Congregationalist

(Lyons, 1942). It first appeared in the publication on July 4, 1895 (Collins, 2003). That year, over 75 different tunes, namely Auld Lang Syne, would be coupled with the poem, but none would stick (Collins, 2003; Kowalski, 2013). It was not until 1904 that Minister Clarence A.

Barbour would join Bates’s poem with Samuel A. Ward’s 1882 hymn melody titled Materna

(Kowalski, 2013; Meizel, 2006).

That same year, Bates simplified the original poem so the text could be accessible to every boy and girl (Collins, 2003). This simplified version was published in the Boston newspaper on November 19, 1904 (Lyons, 1942) and first performed at the Lake Avenue Baptist

Church in Boston, Massachusetts that same year (Collins, 2003). Both the Bates and Ward families decided to give up all royalties to the song through their belief that the song belonged to the American people (Collins, 2003).

Since that first performance, America the Beautiful has been sung in schools, concert halls, and churches (Collins, 2003), and is often included in the common hymnal (Gallagher,

2017). It was also chosen as the official song of the National Women’s Club (Lyons, 1942).

Many wanted Bates’s song to be the national anthem (Kowalski, 2013), so much so that several groups lobbied in favor of multiple bills that were introduced to Congress (Collins, 2003). The argument these groups gave was that the song text reflected the complete story of America

(Collins, 2003). For example, the phrases “amber waves of grain,” “purple mountains majesties,” and the “fruited plain” glorify the country’s natural resources (Gallagher, 2017; Kowalski, 2013).

“America, America, God shed his grace on thee” not only references how God graced this land with such beauty but also references the importance of being able to include “God” within the song because of the religious freedoms that were so important to how the United States was founded. The next phrase which ends the first verse continues with “and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea,” states that all people have the right and the blessing to practice individuality while sharing a common bond (Gallagher, 2017; Meizel, 2006). The text

“alabaster cities” of the fourth verse, were inspired by the Chicago World Fair, which marked

America’s entrance into the world stage (Gallagher, 2017). The song is uniquely positioned as an ode to the nation (Kowalski, 2013). Interestingly enough, other countries including Australia,

Canada, and Mexico have adapted the song’s peaceful nature and benediction for their countries, replacing America with the name of their country and translating the text when necessary

(Lyons, 1942).

O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain

For purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain

America, America, God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea

O beautiful for Pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat, across the wilderness

America, America, God mend thine every flaw

Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law

O beautiful for heroes proved, in liberating strife

Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life

America, America, May God they gold refine

Till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine

O beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears

America, America, God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea

Figure 5: America by Katherine Lee Bates in the Congregationalist, July 4, 1895

3.6 Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929

The Progressive Era began in the early 1900s. The goals of the self-named progressives were to make American society better and safer by regulating big business, cleaning up corrupt governments, improving factory conditions, improving living conditions in mostly immigrant slums, protecting the environment, and conserving natural resources. This generation of

Americans expanded the right to vote to white women and reformed election processes.

Progressives wanted a democratic world, and in 1917, with democratic Great Britain and France, went to war against autocratic Germany and Austria-Hungary. This war became known as the

Great War (American Memory Timeline, n.d.).

3.6.1 Lift Every Voice and Sing

James Weldon Johnson, a Florida-born black man, was a lyricist, poet, high school educator, principal, international diplomat to Nicaragua and Venezuela, civil rights activist, and an essential voice in the Harlem Renaissance (Stephenson, 2017). In 1899, Johnson was asked to give a speech the following year to honor the late President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday

(Schmidt, 2018). Johnson chose, instead of writing a speech, to write a poem to commemorate the occasion (Schmidt, 2018). His brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, with whom he often collaborated, then set his text to music (Redmond, 2013).

In an interview, J. Rosamond recounts he wept while reading his brother's poetry

(Schmidt, 2018). The poem, which began with the powerful call-to-action phrase “Lift Ev’ry

Voice and Sing,” evokes the struggle and resilience of African American ancestors (Schmidt,

2018). James Weldon intended for the text to uplift black communities still healing from slavery as well as shed light upon the suffering historically endured by African Americans (Schmidt,

2018). The text was intentionally written with no reference to any race or ethnicity (Membis,

2010). Use of plural collective nouns like “our,” “us,” and “we” urged for a community and the four-part harmonies necessitated cooperation to perform the song successfully (Redmond, 2013).

The text “stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died,” recounts America’s dark and violent history (Redmond, 2013). The Johnson brothers determined it would be most acceptable if it were sung by children (Stephenson, 2017). Thus, on

February 12, 1900, at President Lincoln’s birthday celebration, the song was debut by 500 school children from Staton School in Jacksonville, where James Weldon was the principal (Membis,

2010; Schmidt, 2018).

James Weldon went on to become field officer of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and quickly moved up as Executive Secretary and the Chief Executive Officer (Stephenson, 2017). Lift Every Voice and Sing, as it is now titled, was adopted by the NAACP as its official song and quickly became known as the black national anthem (“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” 2019, para. 1). However, James Weldon referred to the song as the “Negro National Hymn” because he believed the nation should only have one anthem and did not want to create racial divisions further. Others, including a Jewish Rabbi, suggested the song substitute the national anthems of the time since the Star-Spangled Banner had not yet been chosen to represent the country (Redmond, 2013; Stephenson, 2017).

Lift Every Voice and Sing quickly became one of the most cherished songs of the African

American Civil Rights Movement (“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” 2019, para. 1). The song served as a rallying cry and collective prayer for black communities throughout the United States, but especially in the historically segregated South (Schmidt, 2018). It was embraced as a hymn in many protestant and African American Christian denominations and performed at graduation ceremonies, in school assemblies, at music festivals, and in beer commercials (Schmidt, 2018).

During these times, the song experienced great popularity; yet, there have been periods during its history that it has faded into obscurity. However, when significant events happen within the black community, both tragic and triumphant, the song experiences moments of revival. For example, Reverend Joseph Lowery recited part of the poem during his benediction at President

Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration; after the Trayvon Martin shooting in 2012, protestors at

Howard University gathered around the flagpole at the center of campus to pray and sing the hymn (Schmidt, 2018). The song has also been used globally and translated into many languages, such as African dialects, to create an international black community to reconcile the divisions created by the transatlantic slave trade and diasporic migrations (Redmond, 2013).

Today, information about the Johnson brothers, their accomplishments, and works, can be found in the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection in the Beinecke Library at Yale

University (Johnson, 1985). Two black men wrote Lift Every Voice and Sing for all Americans.

In remembrance of the significance of the song an associate professor of education at Columbia

University aid “It’s a black national anthem, but it’s also a quintessential American song for its message of fighting for freedom. It’s not ‘lift the black voices, ‘it’s lift every voice’” (Membis,

2010, para. 23).

Figure 6: National Hymn, Lift Evry Voice and Sing by Johnson, James Weldon, 1900

Lift every voice and sing

Till earth and heaven ring

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; let our rejoicing rise, high as the list'ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea sing a song full of faith that the dark past has tought us, sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast'ning rod, felt in the day that hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to the place on witch our fathers sighed? we have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last where the white gleam of our star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

thou who has by thy might,

led us into the light,

keep us forever in the path, we pray

lest our feet stray frm the places, our God, where we met thee,

least our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee,

shadowed beneath the hand,

may we forever stand,

tru to our God,

Tru to our native land.

3.6.2 You’re a Grand Old Flag

George M. Cohan was a favorite vaudeville performer and Broadway composer (Collins,

2003). During the late 1800s and early 1900s, he was the star of his family traveling music ensemble, the Four Cohan’s, who at their prime were making thousands of dollars a week, while the average American worker made less than a dollar a day (Collins, 2003). Cohan was a New

Yorker of Irish heritage, who was known for being opinionated, brash, and arrogant (Collins,

2003). He wrote and sold songs, organized shows, and publicized events through newspapers

(Collins, 2003).

In 1901, Cohan teamed up with businessman Sam Harris and wrote and produced the

Broadway hit musical Little Johnny Jones that contained the two popular songs Give My Regards to Broadway and Yankee Doodle Dandy, a famous patriotic song (Collins, 2003). The success of the play secured him enough to purchase one of the new motorized vehicles (Collins, 2003). One

day in 1906, when riding down the street in his new car, Cohan stopped to pick up a senior man whom he knew never had and would likely never get the opportunity to ride in a car. It was this unlikely meeting of the pioneering American generation and the creative motorized generation that would inspire the text to the patriotic song, You’re a Grand Old Flag (Collins, 2003).

His guest was a proud veteran of the Civil War. A story he told Cohan was of the Battle of

Gettysburg where he was the flag bearer. All his friends died around him, but he was still standing, which he believes was because he never dropped the American flag and held it high throughout the battle (Collins, 2003). During the car ride the two men shared the old man still held in his hand a piece of that ragged old flag that carried him through Gettysburg and showed his gratitude towards it. The veteran said, “She’s a grand old rag” (Collins, 2003; You’re a Grand

Old Flag, 2002).

Following their ride together, Cohan went home that day and wrote a song inspired by the old man’s experience in the war and his undeniable love for his country (Collins, 2003). The song was titled You’re a Grand Old Rag, quoted from the old veteran. Cohan then produced the play that would surround the new song, George Washington Jr., a musical comedy that embraced patriotism and the American Dream (Collins, 2003; You’re a Grand Old Flag, 2002). The musical premiered on February 6, 1906, in New York’s Herald Square Theater (You’re a Grand Old Flag,

2002). When audiences heard the song at the end of the first act, many were moved to tears

(Collins, 2003). After its debut, reporters criticized Cohan for slandering the nation by calling the flag a “rag” (Collins, 2003). He quickly changed the word “rag” to “flag” for the second show, and kept it that way henceforth. The change saved the show from the scandalous press and made the song more widely appealing (Collins, 2003). The play, with the new version of the song, ran from February 12, 1906, to April 23, 1906, went on a year-long national tour and returned to

New York for its final encore from February 11 to March 11, 1907 (You’re a Grand Old Flag,

2002).

As a response to the popularity of the song, singer Bill Murray quickly went into the recording studio and created a solo version of the new song, now titled You’re A Grand Old Flag

(Collins, 2003). Murray’s recording became a number 1 hit in the nation in January 1906

(Collins, 2003). With the advent of Victrola records and the accessibility of sheet music production, millions who had never seen the play would learn and love the new patriotic song

(Collins, 2003). It was the first song written for a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music (You’re a Grand Old Flag, 2002). Within a year of its release on record and sheet music, the song became the most recorded and beloved patriotic ode in the country at the time (Collins,

2003). World War I assured the song’s place as the country’s most popular uplifting patriotic song (Collins, 2003). Songs like this helped create a shared popular cultural identity as it spread to all the corners of America (You’re a Grand Old Flag, 2002).

You’re A Grand Old Flag was inspired by a single man’s courage and devotion to his country (Collins, 2003). The song’s jubilant nature spurs rejoice and cheer among Americans

(Kowalski, 2013). Today, the song can still be heard at holiday parades and sporting events

(Kowalski, 2013).

Verse:

There’s a feeling comes a-stealing, and it sets my brain a-reeling,

When I’m list’ning to the music of a military band.

Any tune like “Yankee Doodle” simply sets me off my noodle,

It’s that patriotic something that no one can understand.

“Way down south, in the land of cotton,” melody untiring,

Ain’t that inspiring!

Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll join the jubilee,

And that’s going some

For the Yankees, by gum!

Red, White and Blue,

I am for you,

Honest, you’re a grand old flag!

Refrain:

You’re a grand old flag,

You’re a high-flying flag,

And forever in peace may you wave.

You’re the emblem of

The land I love.

The home of the free and the brave.

Ev’ry heart beats true

Under Red, White and Blue,

Where there’s never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot,

Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Verse:

I’m no cranky hanky panky, I’m a dead square, honest Yankee,

And I’m mighty proud of that old flag that flies for Uncle Sam.

Though I don’t believe in raving ev’ry time I see it waving,

There’s a chill runs up my back that makes me glad I’m what I am.

Here’s a land with a million soldiers, that’s if we should need ’em,

Verse:

We’ll fight for freedom!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For every Yankee tar

And old G.A.R., ev’ry stripe, ev’ry star.

Red, White and Blue,

Hats off to you

Honest, you’re a grand old flag!

3.7 Great Depression and World War II, 1929 – 1945

In the 1920s, the United States was defined by its booming automobile manufacturing industry, economic growth for the middle class and wealthy Americans, as well as the decline of many reform activities that were widespread in the earlier part of the 1900s. (LOC) This economic prosperity ended in October 1929 with the stock market crash followed by the great economic depression, costing over 25% of working Americans their jobs. This economic instability led to worldwide political instability, giving rise to dictatorial regimes such as the

Nazi party under Adolf Hitler. These political unrests eventually evolved into World War II.

When Japan attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the U.S. was forced into the war, though it has successfully avoided it for two years (American Memory

Timeline, n.d.).

3.7.1 God Bless America

God Bless America is a particularly unique American patriotic song. It was written by

Irving Berlin, a Russian Jewish immigrant and Broadway composer (Collins, 2003). In 1918,

Berlin was drafted into the army just a few weeks after becoming a citizen and sent to Long

Island’s Camp Upton station in Yaphank (Collins, 2003). Just before being deployed to France, he convinced the army to allow him to write and produce a Broadway show called Yip! Yip!

Yaphank!, a musical production containing a cast made up of only real U.S. soldiers that highlighted the comedic side of military life (Collins, 2003). The production premiered in New

York’s Century Theater, and the profits were used to help fund the war (Collins, 2003). The popularity and financial benefit the show garnered was the catalyst that elevated Berlin to the rank of sergeant (Collins, 2003).

Berlin wrote God Bless America with the intention that it be the uplifting patriotic closer to the musical (Gallagher, 2017). He ultimately decided to leave it out of the show entirely as he thought it was too emotional for his funny show. It was not until 20 years later, in 1938, that

Berlin was asked to write a song for famous Broadway singer, Kate Smith, to perform for her

Armistice Day salute (Collins, 2003; Gallagher, 2017). Instead of writing a new song, he pulled out God Bless America and edited it for Smith to sing.

Smith loved the song and interpreted it as a much-needed prayer at the time. While there was growing conflict between England and the United States, the text “as the storm clouds gather far across the sea,” seemed especially fitting. She believed the song sent the message that “with

God’s help, we can either avoid this conflict or find a way to survive it” (Collins, 2003, p. 86).

The newly edited version of the song was heard on Kate Smith’s CBS broadcast program on November 24, 1938. Two years later, in 1940, with the funds gained from the popularization of the song, Berlin established a trust to apply all royalties to American youth organizations including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. That same year, the war department

included God Bless America in a list of recommended songs for use in communities, schools, workplaces, and church services (Meizel, 2006).

Figure 7: Advertisement for Yip, Yip, Yaphank in The New York Times, July 29, 1918

Smith’s radio presence made her the known keeper of the song for many years as she performed it at many rallies during World War II, at many concerts, and her version was used in the 1943 movie This is the Army. After the war, the song continued to grow in popularity and became a staple at sporting events, school music programs, and holiday festivals (Collins, 2003).

It was also used as the theme song for both the Democratic and Republican national conventions during the 1940 elections since religious tensions were high from the Soviet Union’s anti- 52

religious laws and they felt a song was needed with God as the main character (Gallagher, 2017).

This song placed the central focus on God blessing the country (Gallagher 2017). Even so, some religious leaders took issue with the nonsectarian invocation of God’s name (Meizel, 2006).

For his contribution to American musical history, Irving Berlin was awarded the

Congressional Gold Medal in 1954, a prize given to civilians who have achieved a long-standing impact on American history and culture (Collins, 2003). This award was received one year after the words “Under God” were added to the end of the Pledge of Allegiance (Meizel, 2006).

Interestingly enough, it was Canadian singer Celine Dion who performed God Bless

America at a benefit for victims in the days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

(Collins, 2003). After the attacks, the song became the number one anthem chosen to express patriotism at public gatherings (Meizel, 2006). In this time, the song’s text embodied the conflict between the U.S.’s xenophobia and the significance of the role of immigration to the American

Dream (Meizel, 2006). Since that moment God Bless America has been regarded as the unofficial anthem of the United States of America (Collins, 2003). It is ironic that a song initially intended for a comedy musical would, several decades later, heal the heart of a traumatized people.

Verse:

While the storm cloud gather far across the sea

Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free

Let us all be grateful for a land so fair

As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer

Refrain:

God bless America

Land that I love

Stand beside her

And guide her

Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains

To the prairies

To the oceans

White with foam

Verse:

God bless America

My home sweet home

From the mountains

To the prairies

To the oceans

White with foam

God bless America

My home sweet home

God bless America

My home sweet home

3.7.2 This Land Is Your Land

Woodrow “Woody” Wilson Guthrie, named after the United States of America’s 28th president, was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma into a well-educated, but low- income family (Collins, 2003). He was often teased as a child, so learned to play the guitar to

entertain and be accepted by other children (Collins, 2003). Early in his life, Guthrie faced two tragedies: his sister’s death by fire and his mother’s institutionalization and eventual death from

Huntington’s disease (Collins, 2003). After his mother’s death, Guthrie left home and began writing songs to voice his emotions and ideas (Collins, 2003). He eventually was married and had three children and moved from Oklahoma to California in pursuit of the promise of work

(Collins, 2003). In California, Guthrie and other Dust Bowl refugees were met with anger and persecuted, the promises of work fell through, and Guthrie and his family once again found themselves impoverished and hungry (Suisman, 2000).

The persecution Guthrie faced in California pushed him to move his ideologies away from capitalism and closer to communism (Collins, 2003). His visits to migrant labor camps in

1938 further cemented his communist leanings (Suisman, 2000). These adverse experiences energized him to begin writing songs about migrant workers, women’s rights, and unionization, unpopular topics with mainstream America (Collins, 2003). His music began gaining traction when a Mexican radio show began beaming his music into the United States (Collins, 2003).

Though he was gaining popularity, he was not making any financial gains (Collins, 2003).

To the emerging folksinger, music was both poetic and functional, he used it as a tool for social and political activism and as a weapon against injustice, so much so that he painted the words “this machine kills fascists” on his guitars (Suisman, 2000). Guthrie challenged the

American establishment with his music (Collins, 2003).

In the late 1930s, Guthrie and his family moved to New York City where he met like- minded revolutionary artists including Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, and John Steinbeck (Collins,

2003). The city confronted him with poverty, hunger, crime, abuse, and social warfare, but

simultaneously inspired him. This juxtaposition of inspiration and devastation motivated him to write songs that combined patriotism and protest (Collins, 2003).

Figure 8: Photograph of Woody Guthrie and his guitar with the painted words "this machine kills fascists"

In 1940, Guthrie was continuously coming across Kate Smith’s rendition of Irving

Berlin’s God Bless America (Collins, 2003), this annoyed him (“This Song Was Made for You and Me,” 2017). He interpreted the text as propaganda for the American government and decided he would write the song that he thought would be a truer version of Berlin’s message (Collins,

2003). Guthrie’s new song mocked the concentration of private property and wealth (“This Song

Was Made for You and Me,” 2017). He ended each verse with the parody statement, “God

Blessed America for me” (Collins, 2003), and set the words to his new song to the A.P. Carter

Baptist tune “Little Darlin’s Pal of Mine” (“This Song Was Made for You and Me,” 2017). After writing it, he put the song away for almost five years (Collins, 2003).

Beginning in 1943, during World War II, Guthrie served in the Merchant Marine and the army. The Great Depression was coming to an end, and his experiences traveling around the country for the military made him come to terms with the country as it was and softened his political views (Collins, 2003). On April 20, 1944, between merchant marine and army duties,

Guthrie recorded This Land Is Your Land (Collins, 2003). With his new moderate approach to life, Guthrie changed the last line of each verse to “This land was made for you and me”

(Collins, 2003).

Throughout his lifetime, Guthrie did experience the joy that his song brought to his fellow countrymen. The song was sung in school classes, by church choirs, and on local radio stations (Collins, 2003). Only a decade after its release it was proposed to replace The Star-

Spangled Banner as America’s official anthem (Collins, 2003). Though this never happened, the song was nonetheless embraced by all types of Americans, regardless of their political views

(Collins, 2003). This Land Is Your Land is an anthem for social justice (“This Song was Made for you and me,” 2017). It has even been referred to as the laypersons Pledge of Allegiance (Collins,

2003). Today, the Woody Guthrie Archives in association with Smithsonian Folkways houses his drawings, essays, poems, and lyrics and includes a small traveling exhibition for schools, an album series containing music for lyrics Guthrie wrote but never recorded, and an album of

Jewish music that he composed (Suisman, 2000). Though Guthrie originally intended for the song to voice the pains he felt towards his country, the edited and recorded version of the song seemed to show a promise of a true America (Collins, 2003).

Refrain:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From the California to the New York island

From the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters

This land was made for you and me

Verse:

As I went walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

And saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me

Verse:

I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

And all around me , a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me

Verse:

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling

In the wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling

The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting

This land was made for you and me

Refrain

Verse:

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling

In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling

The voice come chanting as the fog was lifting

This land was made for you and me

3.8 Postwar United. States, 1945 – 1968

World War II caused millions of men and women to enter into military service and millions more to move to the coasts. The end of World War II marked the beginning of the modern phenomenon known as the American Dream. The G.I. Bill of Rights passed in 1944. It provided funds for military veterans to afford higher education, homes, and farms. This bill created economic prosperity for veteran families and continues to do so still today. It is important to note that though the G.I. Bill had a positive economic impact on the whole country; the opportunities it offered were only provided for white American males who had served a military sentence. The G.I. Bill deliberately excluded American women, immigrants, and American racial minorities such as African-Americans and Hispanic Americans who had all served in war efforts.

As a result of this discrimination, these marginalized groups became more aggressive in attaining equal freedoms and civil rights as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the U.S.

Constitution. This desire sprouted the Civil Rights Movement.

3.8.1 God Bless the U.S.A.

California-born country singer/songwriter Lee Greenwood wrote the most recent patriotic song, God Bless the U.S.A., in 1983 as a response to several cultural tragedies including the

Vietnam War; the race riots of the 1960s; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin

Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy; and the shooting down of Korean Airlines Commercial

Flight 007 by a USSR jet fighter. It was the last incident that finally prompted Greenwood to express his thoughts on the matter (Collins, 2003). Using his conservative Christian values, he chose to honor his country and God in the same song (Gonyea, 2018).

Greenwood hand-delivered a recording of God Bless the U.S.A., which had no country music feel, to the president of his record label. Although he was advised to stick to the formula

that made him a success, the song was released as a single in May 1984 and reached number 7 on the Billboard country playlists. The song was so successful that both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. used it in their presidential campaigns (Collins, 2003; Meizel, 2006), contributing to the song’s increasingly partisan Republican Party association (Meizel, 2006).

However, in times of stress within the country, the song has become much more generalizable.

For example, during the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. military used it as the theme song of the war, often performing it at parades and homecomings (Gonyea, 2017). The song was also played

7,800 percent more frequently on the radio during the week following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (Bohlen, 2001), and its title appeared on bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts, and billboards (Collins, 2003). Today, one can hear it on nationally televised athletic events (Meizel,

2006), amateur shows, school presentations, political rallies, veterans salutes, grocery store openings, Fourth of July celebrations (Collins, 2003), as well at GOP events like recent President

Trump rallies (Gonyea, 2017). The Department of Homeland Security plays a video of the song during the U.S. naturalization ceremony as a part of making new citizens into Americans

(Meizel, 2006).

The lyrics of God Bless the U.S.A. presents the unity and strength of American determination to the world (Collins, 2003). They define Americanness through a public set of beliefs, symbols, and rituals that are rooted in civility and religion (Meizel, 2006). The lyrics celebrate, in civil-religious terms, the importance of the defense of the American Dream (Meizel,

2006). The song opens with gratitude in the verses and continues into pride with the chorus

(Gonyea, 2017).

Verse 1:

If tomorrow all the things were gone

I worked for all my life

And I had to start again

With just my children and my wife

Verse 2:

I thank my lucky stars

To be living here today

'Cause the flag still stands for freedom

And they can't take that away

Chorus:

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died

Who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up next to you

And defend Her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt

I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A.

Verse 3:

From the lakes of Minnesota

To the hills of Tennessee

Across the plains of Texas

From sea to shining sea

Verse 4:

From Detroit down to Houston

And New York to L.A.

Where's pride in every American heart

And it's time we stand and say

Chorus

CHAPTER 4

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

American history began long before the arrival of British colonists in Jamestown,

Virginia in 1607. Native Americans were inhabitants for thousands of years before Western

European explorers encountered the land, prompting cartographers to call the New World,

America, named after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (Allen, 2016). Thus, when the British colonists established their settlement, they were among the first Europeans to plan for permanent residence.

For a century and a half, England remained relatively uninvolved with the settlers. After

British involvement in the French and Indian War left them in a great deal of debt, the British government began interfering with American affairs in fear that the colony would become a stronger global economic power (American Memory Timeline, n.d.). The rising tensions caused by this interference ultimately resulted in the first thirteen colonies entering into the

Revolutionary War in 1770 (American Memory Timeline, n.d.). To establish their independence from Great Britain, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 (American

Memory Timeline, n.d.). Two years later, the Declaration of American Independence was signed on July 4th, officially naming the country the United States of America. This document was signed to end ties to the British Empire. The new country officially won its independence in

1787, resulting in the creation of the American Articles of Confederation.

Throughout the difficult time fighting for their independence, American citizens remained proud of their new country and its promise of freedom. As a young nation, the United

States government began standardizing and choosing national symbols, such as the American

Flag and the United States National Emblem, the bald eagle, to demonstrate their nationhood to

the rest of the world further. Furthermore, American citizens, government entities, and the military started writing songs to showcase their patriotism. The War of 1812, also known as the

Second War for Independence, was the last chance the young nation had to prove itself against its former monarchy (Hardy, 2014).

4.1 History of The Star-Spangled Banner

Amid the war, on September 3, 1814, Frances Scott Key and Colonel John Skinner set sail for the Chesapeake Bay armed with a white flag of truce and official papers from President

Madison to argue for the release of an imprisoned American doctor. (Collins, 2003; David, 1995;

Lyons, 1940). Though the doctor was freed, the three American men were ordered to return to their boat but remain anchored in the harbor until the long-planned British attack on Baltimore’s

Fort McHenry occurred (Collins, 2003; David, 1995; Lyons 1940). From their boat eight miles from the fort, the men watched as the skies filled with fire and smoke for over 25 hours (Collins,

2003). When the battle was over, Key looked through a telescope and was astonished to see the

American flag still flying atop the flagpole at Fort McHenry, which meant Baltimore had won

(Collins, 2003; David, 1995). Filled with inspiration, Key began to write down his emotions about the battle and victory he just witnessed.

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.

Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

With emotions running high from the recent victory, Key’s brother-in-law had the words of the poem printed on a handbill that was distributed throughout the city with the title Defence of Fort McHenry (Collins, 2003). On September 20, the Baltimore Patriot newspaper published the poem, with several other publications along the Atlantic coast to quickly follow (Collins,

2003). Within a month, Key matched his poem to the tune, An Anacreon in Heaven, likely composed by John Stafford Smith, composer to the Chapel Royal in London in the 1770s. This tune was popular in the United States as a drinking song, with words improvised over the melody to fit the occasion (Heyman, 2018). It is believed that Key had the tune in mind when he first wrote the poem (Berg, 2014; Heyman, 2018). In the fall of 1814, the sheet music edition of the song was published, complete with its new title, The Star-Spangled Banner, and quickly spread across America (Robin, 2016). While the song was immediately accepted into the canon of

American patriotic songs, it was no more special than other similar songs and remained that way over the next 100 years.

Figure 9: Defence of Fort McHenry handbill, 1914

Figure 10: the first printed sheet music of the Star-Spangled Banner, from Carr’s Music store in Baltimore, Maryland, 1914 4.2 Finding an Official National Anthem

There have been several campaigns to make a specific patriotic song the national anthem of the country, such as Liberty Song in 1768, Yankee Doodle c. 1775, Hail Columbia in 1798,

America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) in 1861, Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1865, America the

Beautiful in 1895, God Bless America in 1918, and You’re a Grand Old Flag in 1941. The first campaign to have the Star-Spangled Banner officially approved by Congress as the national anthem began in 1861 but was unsuccessful. (Heyman, 2018). However, in September 1916,

President Woodrow Wilson declared the song the national anthem of the United States to be played on military and governmental occasions (Krishnamoorthy, 2017). While he never completed the process of writing the order into law (Hisotry.com, 2017; The New York Times,

1930), he did commission the U.S. Bureau of Education to create a standard version. This version premiered in Carnegie Hall on December 8, 1917 (Krishnamoorthy, 2017), and gained exposure at the 1918 World Series game between the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs (Selk,

2017). Three years later, Fort McHenry District Representative, John Charles Linthicum, wrote a bill to write the anthem into U.S. law (Connor, 2017). He conducted his campaign in parallel with the Prohibition era, garnering many protestors who believed the songs popularization as a drinking song was in opposition to the nations’ moral values (Robin, 2014). The House Judiciary

Committee did not pass his bill, but this did not stop Linthicum from continuing his pursuit. Over the next nine years, he submitted several drafts of the bill to the committee for approval, which he never received (Robin, 2014).

In January 1930, the Veterans of Foreign Wars obtained five million signatures to petition for The Star-Spangled Banner to be officially accepted as the national anthem (New

York Times, 1930). Linthicum presented this petition to the House Judiciary Committee on

February 1, 1930, for the last time, to demonstrate the peoples' desire to have the song chosen to represent them (New York Times, 1930). The presentation included performances by operatic sopranos Elsie Joris-Reilley and Grace Evelyn Boudlin accompanied by the Navy Band to help dismantle the belief that the song was too difficult to sing (New York Times, 1930). The committee voted to send the bill to the House floor, and on April 21, 1930, Linthicum’s bill passed in the House of Representatives (Connor, 2017). Even though the song was criticized for its war themes, British tune, and affiliation with alcohol consumption, President Herbert Hoover signed the bill that made it official in the Senate on March 3, 1931 (Collins, 2003; Connor, 2017;

Heyman, 2018). The bill contained only one sentence: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of

Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, that the composition

consisting of the words and music known as ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is designated the national anthem of the United States of America (The New York Times, 1931).”

Though the song was now officially recognized, the accompanying etiquette took longer to be accepted into practice. In 1942, Congress codified the habit of rising for the anthem, and other rules of etiquette, including those in uniform are expected to salute from the first to the last line of the song, all others should stand at attention, and all men must remove their headwear

(Connor, 2017). In 1988, the law was rewritten to include the placing of the right hand over the heart when facing the flag during the playing of the anthem (Connor, 2017).

4.2.1 Functions

During the Civil War. Long before its use as the United States of America’s national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner functioned as a symbol of pride for the citizenry, and of particular interest to the military department. For example, during the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy claimed the song as their own. For the South, they believed it was rightfully theirs, since all of Key’s male descendants fought on the side of the Confederacy during the war, and he was a slave owner, even though he requested they be freed in his will when he died in

1843 (Ferris, 2015; Robin, 2014). Southerners did not believe the song needed any changes, even though it spoke of the flag of their enemy (Morley & Schwarz, 2016). In an 1861 editorial in the

Richmond Examiner, a confederate stated “Let us never surrender to the North the noble song, the ‘Star-Spangled Banner…it is Southern in origin, in sentiments, in poetry, in song, and in its association with chivalrous deeds. It is ours” (Robin, 2016, para. 7). For the North, the American flag was becoming the symbol of national unity, and Key’s text helped exemplify that fact

(Ferris, 2015, History.com, 2017). Northern doctor and poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.,

believed the song would more fully represent the Union with the addition of a new verse, which he wrote himself (Morley & Schwarz, 2016).

When our land is illumined with Liberty's smile,

If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile

The flag of her stars and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained, who our birthright have gained,

We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!

And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave

While the land of the free is the home of the brave (American Unitarian Association,

1865, p. 19)

After publicizing it, versions of the song including Holmes’s new verse were incorporated into curricula and schoolbooks across the country (Morley & Schwarz, 2016).

Though the central theme of the war was human rights, they were fighting a war on multiple fronts, arguing against whether to keep Key’s original poem or adopt the new version including

Holmes’ verse. At the height of the conflict, the Confederacy organized a task force to have the new version removed from all textbooks and published an article calling his words a “monstrous perversion” (Morley & Schwarz, 2016, para. 36). While the South lost the war, they won the battle for the removal of the verse and Holmes’ words quickly faded into obscurity (Robin,

2014).

Following the end of the Civil war, reconstruction began, and there was a period of needed reconciliation between the feuding regions. The popularization of the song and the ownership felt by the whole nation for it, aided in the unification of the country and its military.

By 1889, the Secretary of the Navy ordered the song be played at flag raisings (Warfield, 2018).

Ten years later, during the Spanish American War, the United States Army played it at night as flags were being lowered (Connor, 2017). Since January 1917, the song has been used as the official anthem of the army and the navy (Collins, 2003; Warfield, 2018).

Events and gatherings. Civilians embraced the Star-Spangled Banner, and early on it was incorporated into cultural gatherings, plays, and other productions (Heyman, 2018). During

World War II, having live performances or playing recordings of the song at public gatherings, like sporting events, became part of American tradition (Collins, 2003; Connor, 2017). It was during the Chicago Cubs first World Series game against the Boston Red Sox in 1918 that the tradition was created (Selk, 2017). There were few people in the audience and morale was low, fans were preoccupied with the war, and even more, the Chicago Federal Building had been bombed the day before (Selk, 2017). At the start of the seventh inning, the military band began to play the standardized version of The Star-Spangled Banner (Selk, 2017). The Red Sox 3rd basemen and military veteran, stopped playing, faced the flag, and stood at attention for the duration of the song (Selk, 2017). His gesture brought the small crowd to their feet, hands over hearts, as the players and attendees burst into communal song (Selk, 2017). From that point on, the tradition quickly spread to other Major League Baseball teams and made its way to all other national sports organizations even before it was recognized as the official anthem (Selk, 2017).

When the Chicago White Sox attempted to alter the tradition by playing the more singable God

Bless America in the 1960s, the crowd criticized the change as an insult to American troops fighting in the Vietnam War (Selk, 2017).

In the media. As television became more common in American homes, The Star-

Spangled Banner became a fixture on TV, primarily used to mark the end of the broadcast day

(Connor, 2017). The song was often sung on holidays, at military ceremonies, in taverns, at parades, school functions, and during other festivities (David, 1995; Heyman, 2018). The song has also been featured in movies of every genre to invoke strong emotions (Lynch, 2016).

Pride and punishment. Though it has often been the subject of many parodies and adaptations made in pride and jest, The Star-Spangled Banner has sometimes been historically used to punish those who undermine the country (Connor, 2017; Heyman, 2018). In France in 1917,

American troops made German army musicians play the song as they marched into captivity

(Connor, 2017). A year later, in New Haven, Connecticut, a man who wrote “Deutschland über

Alles,” Germany above all, was forced to sing it and kiss the flag by a mob (Connor, 2017). The song has also been used to inspire devotion in those who seek to pledge themselves to the United

States. Beginning in 1861 with a German version, the song has been translated into Spanish,

Hebrew, Yiddish, French, Samoan, and Irish to inspire loyalty in these immigrant groups (Berg,

2014). Versions also exist in Navajo and Cherokee to unify all people of the United States

(Neustadt, 2011).

Possibly the most critical function the song serves is inspiring the people of the United

States to band together in non-partisan pride (Connor, 2017). There are patriotic songs that are more accessible and more easily singable; however, since the song was bred in the direct aftermath of battle, it is no surprise it is most popular during times of war and trauma, like after the 9/11 attacks (Connor, 2017). Regardless of its criticisms, praises, and contexts, The Star-

Spangled Banner has been a potent symbol for the United States of America and those that identify the country as “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

4.2.2 Oppositions

In sports. Since its acceptance as the national anthem in 1931, The Star-Spangled Banner has faced its share of oppositions. When it first began being played at sporting events during

World War II, many critics feared that playing the song at public gatherings would trivialize its meaning and thought it should be reserved for special governmental occasions (Collins, 2003).

During the 1960s, American athletes began protesting the song (Connor, 2017). For example, at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two African-American track runners chose not to stand at attention, instead bowed their heads, put on black gloves, and raised their closed fists in a black power salute during the playing of the anthem at their medal ceremony (Connor, 2017; Fink, 2018). In response to the hostile reception of their actions,

Carlos later wrote, “it seemed less a national anthem than a barbaric call to arms” (Selk, 2017, para. 25). Similar protests began happening more frequently in the decades following. In 1998, the NBA suspended Mahmoud Abdul-Raif for sitting during the national anthem (Finck, 2018).

Abdul, in opposition to the text of Key’s poem, claimed, “You can’t be for God and for oppression” (Finck, 2018, p. 134). He believed the text’s invocation of God in the 3rd verse should suggest the tolerance of all people, but contrastingly believed the text was racist, and therefore exclusionary and oppressive (Finck, 2018).

In recent history, there have been many controversies surrounding the national anthem and its association with police violence, racial injustice, and unwanted war (Fink, 2018). In 2016,

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem. At the start of a football game, he refused to stand “for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Finck, 2018, p. 130). Others in the NFL have followed his lead as he moved from sitting during the national anthem to kneeling in support of fighting racial injustice

following increased police violence towards unarmed black men (Finck, 2018). Some regard

Kaepernick as a traitor, others as a patriot (Finck, 2018).

Difficulties with text and tune. The Star-Spangled Banner has been criticized for being too difficult to sing. Music educators who attempted to agree on a standardized version of the song felt it necessary to create harmonies because the tune is too tricky for the average person to sing on their own (Warfield, 2018). The difficulties were not all negative, as the addition of harmonies necessitates community involvement to cover the wide range of notes contained within the melody (Hardy, 2014). The educators ultimately failed to create a standard version as they faced other obstacles including the difficulty understanding and remembering the text because the language is of a time now far removed from today.

A prime example for the difficulty of the text is a professional singer, Christina Aguilera, who was invited to perform the national anthem at Super Bowl XLV in February 2011

(Billboard, 2018). When she arrived at the fourth line of the song, she forgot the text and proceeded to jumble the words. Where the text states, “o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming,” Aguilera accidentally sang “what so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming” instead.

Changing American values. The British origins of the tune and its association with recreational drinking have been other reasons for criticism (Connor, 2017). The text’s martial themes alienated many and linked patriotism with killing and being killed (Connor, 2017). Most

Americans only know the song in its abbreviated version, which only consists of the first of four verses (Heyman, 2018). The seldom-heard 3rd verse slanders loyalists as “hirelings” and

“slaves” (Connor, 2017). As the country becomes less religious and more ethnically diverse, critics worry the pious subject matter may no longer represent the population’s values (Meizel,

2006). While God is only mentioned in the last, never-sung verse, the song may serve to legitimize specific Christian religious beliefs and practices as appropriately American

(Gallagher, 2017; Meizel, 2006). Key’s poem exclaims the nation as “the land of the free.” He was a northern slave owner who argued against the abolitionist movement, and because of this, his poem has been heavily criticized for being incongruent with the nations changing values around the ownership of slaves (History.com, 2017). To be clear, Key was not pro-slavery, even though he owned slaves, he disagreed with the atrocities of the institution of slavery and believed the solution was to have black slaves relocated back to Africa (History.com, 2017). Even still, in

November 2017, the NAACP called for the removal of The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem. Alice Huffman, the president of the California Chapter of the NAACP, said, “it’s racist; it doesn’t represent our community, it’s anti-black” (CBS news, 2017, para. 6). Huffman is referring to the text of the often-criticized third verse, which the organization interprets as intolerant (CBS news, 2017).

4.2.3 Renditions

The Star-Spangled Banner long adhered to its improvisational origins and remained a malleable entity subject to parodies, adaptations and notable performances (Robin, 2016). Some versions were created from pride for the nation, others were produced because of criticism, and a few were merely misunderstood. For example, in 1817, American composer James Hewitt set

Key’s poem to a different tune, believing the song should be sung to an American melody (Berg,

2014). Before the Civil War, abolitionists changed the text to send a message against the institution of slavery. The first two lines were changed to “Oh, say do you hear, at the dawn’s early light, the shrieks of those bondmen, whose blood is now streaming (Robin, 2014).”

Throughout the prohibition era, the Temperance-movement also changed the song text as

propaganda for their cause, changing the first lines to “Oh! Who has not seen by the dawn’s early light, some poor bloated drunkard to his home weakly reeling (Robin, 2014)?"

In 1944, Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky, arranged an unconventional version of the song and the Boston Police misinformed him of a Massachusetts law that prohibits tampering with national property, forcing Stravinsky to remove his arrangement from the setlist (Slim,

2008). Over time, the song has undergone many changes and variations. Though Frances Scott

Key’s text has remained unchanged, it is likely that he would not recognize the tune the way it is sung today (Robin, 2014). The tempo was quick, and the first two words were the same note, omitting the third melismatic descent on the words ‘O say’ (Robin, 2014). Originally, the listener could recognize its origin as a drinking song in its quick tempo and less complex melody (Robin,

2014). In Key’s time, the song would have been sung by a soloist, or caller, while the last two lines of each verse would have been echoed by others (Robin, 2014).

In 1969, rockstar Jimi Hendrix performed a particularly notable version of the anthem at the Woodstock Festival (Clague, 2014). He played the tune on his electric guitar with harmonies that imitated the song’s text, like distorted harmonic regressions where the text “rockets” and

“bombs” would have been (Clague, 2014). Pop and soul singer Whitney Houston performed and recorded perhaps one of the best and most polarizing renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner at

Super Bowl XXV in 1991 (Anderson, 2017). Houston’s performance was an arrangement of

Key’s original song but in a duple meter, rather than the original triple meter. This change and the fact that it was later revealed she was lip-syncing caused her performance to be criticized, even though it was expertly performed and the American public loved her version. This admiration was reiterated after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 when her version was re-released and for the first time placed The Star-Spangled Banner on Billboard’s Top 40 List

(Anderson, 2017).

Comedian Roseanne Barr sang one of the more infamous performances of the Star-

Spangled Banner at a San Diego Padres baseball game in July 1999 (Edgers, 2015). Her singing was so bad that the crowd began throwing objects onto the field towards her (Edgers, 2015). Her reaction was to make crude gestures, including spitting on the ground and grabbing herself as if to adjust a protective cup (Edgers, 2015). It got so bad that Barr walked off before ever finishing the song (Edgers, 2015). Not nearly as scandalous, but still surrounded by controversy is a 2008 performance of the anthem. Jazz Singer, Rene Marie was condemned by local politicians for singing the melody to the Star- Spangled Banner with the text to Lift Every Voice and Sing, the

‘black national anthem,’ at Denver, Colorado’s State of the City address (Schmidt, 2018).

In general, the song has been criticized for containing hostile text, being challenging to sing, using a British tune, and including words that are difficult to understand and remember

(Connor, 2017). However, supporters of the national anthem believe it is the musical representation of American democratic ideals (Collins, 2003). These ever more complex and creative renditions of the anthem demonstrate the evolution of the country and its people (Robin,

2014). Those who have sung the song with full intention impart within it their Americanness, broadcasting what it means to be a citizen of this country through their personal experience

(Robin, 2014). It reveals the stubborn pride, hope, and faith that so identify the nation’s people and their attitudes (Collins, 2003).

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

5.1 Explanation of the Research Questions

5.1.1 What Role Does Music Education Curricula Play in Shaping American Patriotism?

In the same way that religious songs were taught in 17th-century public schools in order to improve the quality of singing in churches, the teaching of patriotic songs improves the quality of communal relationships in American society (Branscome, 2005; Meizel, 2006). Since the education reform movement, there has been an increased emphasis on music from the different cultures of the world and popular music, and a decline in patriotic singing (Branscome, 2005;

Kogan, 2016). Music educators are those who impart the knowledge of American patriotic songs to the school children of modern society. Patriotic songs are often the first means by which

Americans participate in demonstrating their patriotism (Kogan, 2016) Though patriotic songs are present within modern music education curricula, most songs are learned one year and never revisited. The Star-Spangled Banner is generally implemented into lessons starting in 3rd grade and is no longer a part of curricula in high school unless an ensemble teacher decides to include it. Of course, The Star-Spangled Banner is still performed at sporting events and patriotic celebrations. Songs like Samuel Francis Smith’s America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee), Katherine

Lee Bates’ America the Beautiful, and Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. are still popular during times of trauma and loss, though fewer school children know their text or tune. Ensuring that school children know the history and context of these American symbols and have the confidence to sing these songs will guarantee that a new generation of Americans will be able to set aside their differences and join together in song (Meizel, 2006).

5.1.2 In What Contexts and For What Reasons Have American Patriotic Songs Been

Composed?

Pieces in the American patriotic song canon have been composed in a variety of contexts, but for very few reasons. Liberty Song was written by two Caucasian men, set to an English tune, in disagreement with the Townsend Acts of 1767. Hail Columbia was also written by a white man, this time to an American tune, about the need to band together during the vulnerable time that was the birth of the nation. The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Frances Scott Key and set to an English tune, was written in the direct aftermath of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) was once again, written by a white man, set to an anonymous European Hymn tune, and written to be included in public-school classes. Dixie was composed with the hopes of escaping the cold north and heading south. Julia Ward Howe, a

Caucasian woman, wrote the text to Battle Hymn of the Republic and set it to a popular American tune, after witnessing the chaos of the preparation of the Civil War. Katherine Lee Bates, another white woman, wrote America the Beautiful; it was set to an American hymn, and written while witnessing the splendor of the American landscape. Lift Every Voice and Sing, composed by two

African American brothers, was written as a speech to honor the late President Abraham Lincoln.

God Bless America was written by a Russian Jewish immigrant during World War I, to provide peace to the American people. George M. Cohan’s You’re a Grand Old Flag was inspired by the experience of a Civil War veteran and performed in a musical production on Broadway. This

Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, was set to an American Baptist tune and written as a rebuttal towards Berlin’s God Bless America. Lee Greenwood’s God Bless The U.S.A. was composed as a reaction to several international tragedies including the Vietnam war, the assassination of several great American leaders, and the shooting down of a flight carrying

American passengers.

Of the eleven songs included in this survey, only four were not written by white

American men. Of those four, one was written by a Russian Jewish male immigrant, another by two black brothers, and the last two, by American women. They were written as a reaction to war and terror, during vulnerable times, for inclusion within schools, in hopes for better lives, and to describe the beauty of the country. Most of the songs were written as a reaction to traumatic historical events such as war, suggesting there may be no American patriotic song canon if the history of the United States was not riddled with violence and bloodshed.

Since Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. in 1983, there have not been any new songs added to the American patriotic song canon, despite there having been significant historical occurrences. Potential song topics including the Gulf War of 1990; the terror attacks of

September 11, 2001; the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan in 2001,

2003, and 2004 respectively (Torreon, 2018); the election of the first black president, Barack

Obama in 2008; the American recession of 2008-2009; and the takedown of Osama Bin Laden in

2011 could inspire new compositions. It might be time for American poets and composers of diverse backgrounds to come together to commemorate these historical events into song.

5.1.3 Is The Star-Spangled Banner the Best Song To Represent an Increasingly Diverse

United States of America?

The Star-Spangled Banner was the song that prevailed as the United States’ national anthem. In recent years, however, the national anthem has collected several criticisms and has received lawsuits, protesting its role as such. It is seemingly obvious that a song that is meant to represent all the people of this ‘melting-pot’ nation would undergo some condemnation.

Nevertheless, the amount and essence of the disapprovals, begs the question; is it time for a

change? There seems to be a significant portion of the African-American population of the

United States that believe the song is racist. If there is an entire demographic of people who feel offended by a song that should represent them, should the song be done away with, or perhaps edited? Most of the judgment seems to be an aversion to the 3rd verse. Though this verse is part of Frances Scott Key’s poem, it is almost never sung, let alone known; maybe a renouncement of the 3rd verse would lessen the critiques.

Oliver Wendall Holmes’s additional verse, written in 1861, which is decidedly more inclusive, could imaginably be included again (Morley & Schwarz, 2016). If editing the anthem is not the solution to the constant controversy, doing away with it and replacing it with a more largely favored song like Samuel Francis Smith’s America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee), Katherine

Lee Bates’ America the Beautiful, or Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land may be the answer. The criticism sometimes also stems from its association to an intolerant time in the country’s history, perhaps writing a new song, within todays context, is just the change our declining patriotism needs.

5.2 Further Research

Several questions have arisen throughout the process of examining patriotism through song; they should be investigated. Is there an unwritten understanding and/or expectation amongst music educators to include patriotic songs within their classroom curricula? Some music educators, especially those who have been teaching for a long time, believe it is imperative that they include patriotic songs within their curricula. Others believe that as long as the nine content standards are observed, none of which include patriotic singing, the components of each lesson are entirely up to the discretion of the teacher. Following so many generations of

NAfME leadership, it is unclear whether music teachers must include these songs, and if it

would even be ethical to mandate educators to include these songs. Should government entities and music education leadership organizations dictate that American patriotic songs must be included into curricula?

Is it necessary for the American populace to know the words and be able to sing along to

Patriotic songs in order to be considered patriotic? Many Americans first practice their patriotism at school, standing up, hand over heart, reciting the pledge of allegiance and listening to The

Star-Spangled Banner on the morning announcements, and then learning songs like This Land Is

Your Land in their elementary general music classroom. There are other ways to express patriotic pride. Just because someone does not know the words or the tune to our most popular songs, including the Star-Spangled Banner, this should not cast them as un-American or unpatriotic. It is known that singing together fosters a sense of community and pride (Meizel, 2006), but that does not eliminate the possibility of being able to create that sense of community and pride through other forms of expression and participation. It may be possible that singing has a particularly unique way of bringing people together, this would require more research. What is the effect of singing patriotic songs on the level of patriotic pride?

The United States of America is becoming more diverse every year. Millennials and Gen

Zers are the youngest and most diverse generations in the country’s history and make up over 46 percent of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). These generations are finding patriotic songs like The Star-Spangled Banner to be increasingly problematic. Older generations were much more outwardly patriotic. They lived through two World Wars in some cases, others the

Vietnam War and many other tragedies that cemented the love for their country. However, because these younger generations are of the age of the internet, and constantly processing information through technology from all over the world, their potential patriotic pride may be

over saturated by the onslaught of knowledge. In order to restore patriotism in the U.S. younger generations it may be necessary to ask members of these generations how they wish to be commemorated in song and what song text would make them feel proud of their Americanness.

If researchers were to ask millennials and Gen Zers what should be included in patriotic songs that would represent their American values, the responses would likely be different depending on the political climate of the time, and whether or not the security of the nation were at risk. It is important to remember, the population is more patriotic in the aftermath of trauma (Connor,

2017). Should patriotic songs be commissioned in order to guarantee representation of all

Americans?

5.3 Limitations

There were two main limitations of this thesis. First, although the researcher made every attempt to select the most significant songs of each historical era, it is entirely possible that there were songs more significant at the time that have lost their influence in the present day. Second, only a small sample of patriotic songs was included within this thesis, a more substantial portion of the American patriotic song canon may have resulted in a greater diversity of contexts, functions, and composers.

5.4 Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of patriotic songs within the context of the United States of America’s history. Additionally, this thesis sought to examine music education curricula and its influence on American patriotism. The investigation has concluded that white American men generally write American patriot songs within the context of trauma in order to inspire the American people. Throughout American history, government entities and music education leadership organizations have dictated the mandatory contents of curricula to

the point of only including religious songs, at other times only European songs, and even sometimes only patriotic songs. Today, in a standards-based education system, these governing bodies often dictate a great percentage of the components of music classes.

In the way that these agencies decide what is included within history textbooks, the same is done for music lessons. Caution should be taken, however, when deciding which songs should be included. Music education leadership organizations should take care to include diverse perspectives within their executive committees, to ensure that every type of school child has a voice that represents them at higher levels. However, perhaps the issue is not just limited to agencies or educators, but rather lies within the heart of the American citizenry. If the American people placed a priority on teaching each new generation the text and tune of patriotic songs as well as engaging in communal singing of these songs, then perhaps our differences would be turned into an understanding, and harmony would be achieved within the harmonies we sing.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Laurah Merisier was born in Nogent-sur-Marne, France in 1992. After finishing high school in South Florida, she completed a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education at the

Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Following three years as a teacher in South

Florida public charter school system, Merisier came to Florida State University to purse graduate work.