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Go directly to the collection, America
Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets, in American Memory, or view a
Summary of Resources related to the collection.
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century
Song Sheets provides a number
of opportunities to develop historical thinking skills. A timeline can be created
from some of the song sheets to assess presidential campaign tactics. Lyrics responding
to Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation provide historical comprehension
of the decision and its repercussions. Songs describing John Brown's raid on a
fort in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and his subsequent execution can be used to
interpret how Brown's attack related to the national debate over slavery. Minstrel
songs and other pieces characterizing ethnic stereotypes can be used to discuss
the racial attitudes of historical and contemporary culture.
Chronological Thinking
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Politicians in the late-nineteenth
century often attempted to gain support by harkening back to the ideological conflicts
that sparked the Civil War. Evidence of this tactic, known (for its divisive nature)
as "waving the bloody shirt," is available with a search on the
term, campaign.
Military analogies were particularly
fitting for presidential candidates such as Democrat George McClellan and Republican
Ulysses Grant since they played important roles in the Union army.
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Photograph from
"McClellan Will Be President."
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He led
his noble army on Antietam's bloody field,
And he battled for the Union, to make the rebels yield,
'Til owld Abe, the rail-splitter, relieved him from command,
But we'll show him our devotion, and by him we will stand.
From the "McClellan
Campaign Song" during the 1864 presidential election.
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Throughout
our great republic all the patriot hosts to-night,
Are girding on the armor for the battle of the right,
But the fight is at the ballot-box, not on the battle plain,
And we have named the leader who will win the fall campaign.
From the "Grant
Campaign Song" during the 1868 election.
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This practice ran through the Reconstruction
era with pieces such as the 1876 "Republican
Campaign Song," which declared, "By the blood of "Our Soldiers" for liberty
shed-- / By the widows and the orphans of our Patriotic dead-- / Our President
shall never be a "slimy" copperhead,-- / Thirty million shout to-day for Hayes
and Wheeler."
These and other pieces from the collection
can be used to construct a timeline chronicling presidential elections and their
campaign messages.
- How do these songs relate presidential
elections to military campaigns?
- What do you think was the purpose
of drawing this comparison?
- What other themes and images are
prevalent throughout the timeline of presidential elections? Which themes and
images appear only in certain campaigns?
- How do these songs compare to pieces
that rallied Union troops during the Civil War such as "Hurrah
for the Union"?
- How do you think that voters responded
to these songs?
Historical Comprehension
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Illustration from
"Abe Lincoln's Battle Cry."
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In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared
that all slaves in Confederate-controlled areas were free. He also called for
black volunteers to enlist in the Union Army. The Emancipation Proclamation did
not apply to slaves living in border states, or parts of the Confederacy occupied
by Union troops, but it did suggest that the abolition of slavery was a primary
objective in the Civil War.
Public reaction to Lincoln's decree
was split. The Confederate song, "Lines
on the Proclamation Issued by the Tyrant Lincoln" declares, "We have read
the tyrant's order, / And the signet to the rule. / And thought the kingly jester
meant / To make an April fool." Meanwhile, songs such as "I
Am Fighting for the Nigger" and "The
Black Regiment" (published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored
Regiments) offer different opinions regarding the merits of black soldiers.
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I
calculate of niggers we soon shall have our fill,
With Abe's proclamation and the nigger army bill.
Who would not be a soldier for the Union to fight?
For, Abe's made the nigger the equal of the white....
Guard well the Constitution, the Government and laws:
To every act of Congress don't forget to give applause:
And, when you meet the Rebels, be sure, and drive 'em back:
No matter if you do enslave the white man, you liberate the black.
From "I
Am Fighting for the Nigger."
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"Freedom!"
their battle-cry--
"Freedom! or leave to die!"
Ah! and they meant the word,
Not as with us ' tis heard,....
Scourges and shackles strong
Never shall do them wrong.
O, to the living few,
Soldiers, be just and true!
Hail them as comrades tried;
Fight with them side by side;
Never, in field or tent,
Scorn the black regiment!
From "The
Black Regiment."
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- Why do you think that Lincoln chose
to free only those slaves held in areas that remained loyal to the Confederacy?
- Do you think that the Proclamation
appeared to favor black soldiers at the expense of white members of the Union
Army? Why or why not?
- Do you think that songs such as
"I
Am Fighting for the Nigger" reflected the sentiments of many white soldiers?
- What do you think were the political
consequences of Lincoln's decree?
- Why do you think that songs such
as "The
Black Regiment" were published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting
Colored Regiments? Do you think that they would have been effective in recruiting
black soldiers or in combatting low morale in the Union Army?
Historical Analysis and Interpretation
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In October 1859, abolitionist
John Brown led a raid on a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia,
to acquire weapons and spark a slave rebellion. The United States
Marines recaptured the arsenal before Brown's plan was carried out,
but the raid and Brown's subsequent trial and execution marked one
of the most controversial events in American history. A search
on the phrase, John Brown, produces songs condemning and
celebrating the abolitionist's actions.
"The
Fright of Old Virginia" provides a sympathetic account of the
raid and Brown's fate with the chorus, "Virginia is the state, you
know, / That never feared a mortal foe; / But chivalry was rather
low, / When Brown came to Old Virginia." "John
Brown" echoes the sentiment by describing Brown as both a "hero,
and a martyr" who "bled for the colored race . . . [and] longed
to set them free."
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Illustration from
the "John Brown Song."
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On the other hand, songs such
as "John
Brown's Entrance Into Hell," imagines Brown's final destination celebrated
by Satan.
"You'll
take your seat at my left hand,
Why I do this you'll understand; Be not surprised, when I tell
you,
Old Abraham is coming too....
John at my left, Abe at my right,
We'll give the heavenly hosts a fight....;
Abe's Cabinet, 'tis very true,
Will soon knock here as loud as you--
In short, the negroizing clan,
Are traveling here unto a man.
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- What types of images
do songs supporting John Brown use?
- What types of images
do songs condemning John Brown use?
- Do you think that
any of these songs provide an objective account of John Brown's
actions?
- What are the specific
targets of the songwriters' support or hatred?
- How do these songs
comment on both John Brown and the general issue of slavery?
- Do you think that
such songs might influence how John Brown is remembered in both
the history books and in public memory?
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Historical Issue-Analysis
and Decision-Making
Some of the songs in this collection
contain dialects, derogatory terms, and ethnic stereotypes revealing prominent
racial attitudes in nineteenth-century American culture. While these lyrics may
be offensive by contemporary standards, they provide an opportunity to objectively
investigate and discuss racial intolerance in both historic and contemporary culture.
For example, a search on the
term, nigger, yields hundreds of songs using the term in a variety of
contexts. "Mary
and Sambo" offers an ugly account of an interracial romance and the unwritten
social rules of race relations. The budding romance of the title ends after the
suitor is threatened by Mary's father.
I knew
a white gal of sweet sixteen,
As near as I can figure,
Who slighted all her dashing beaux--
And fell in love with a nigger.
The blackest kind of a nigger,
A dreadful ugly nigger;
A sleepy, lazy, dirty, crazy,--
Cotton picking nigger.
First Verse of "Mary
and Sambo."
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He knelt
at Mary's father's feet,
And said he would resign her,
That she could marry when she pleased,
And he would marry Dinah.
The prudent cautious nigger,
The compromising nigger,
The point he saw of social law.
That "nig" must marry nigger
Final Verse of "Mary
and Sambo."
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- How do these songs depict African
Americans?
- What do you think that these types
of songs imply about the racial and social hierarchy of nineteenth-century America?
- Who does the song blame for the
interracial romance? Why?
- What does the song mean by "the
point . . . of social law"?
- How do you think that a contemporary
audience would respond to this song?
Illustration from
"De Nigger on De Fence"
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Meanwhile, minstrel songs such as
"Pompey
Moore," questions the notion of racial equality: "You may talk and you may
write, / You may work and you may fight, / But what good does eber arise? / You
may paint and you may rub, / You may wash and you may scrub, / But a nigger is
a nigger till he dies!" These types of minstrel songs were generally performed
on a minstrel stage by white men donning makeup to appear as though they were
black.
A search on dialectical
phrases such as bobolition and mancipation, highlights other
minstrel songs such as "Young
Eph's Lament," in which the narrator questions his fate just prior to the
Civil War: Oh, where will I go if dis war breaks de country up, / And de
dar-keys hab to scat-ter a-round, / Dis bob-o-li-tion, man-ci-pa-tion and se-ses-sion
/ Am a gwine to run de nig-ger in de ground!....
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- How does the use of dialect in the
minstrel shows reinforce racial stereotypes?
- What indication is there that dialects
on the minstrel stage not only mimic the language of African Americans but are
also used for satirical purposes?
- How do you think that the purpose
of the dialect is influenced by its context, such as the presentation of a song
by a white man donning blackface on a minstrel stage?
- How do you think that a modern audience
might respond to such songs?
- Can you name some contemporary forms
of expression or popular culture in which racial terms and depictions are acceptable?
- Why do you think that such forms
of expression provide a context in which these sentiments are acceptable?
- How do people respond to these contemporary
expressions?
- How do people often respond to older
works such as Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn?
- Do you think that any of these materials
are acceptable for a classroom discussion? If so, which ones?
- How do you determine the context
and material in which such language is acceptable?
- How do you respond to materials
that are deemed unacceptable?
Historical Research Capabilities
Illustration from
"Huzza! Old Iron Sides." |
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This collection contains a number
of songs commemorating battles from the War of 1812. These song sheets can be
used to research some of the specific conflicts during the era and examine how
songwriters used victories and defeats to promote the war effort. For example,
"Old
England Forty Years Ago" chronicles the military effort during the war and
declares, "Our soldiers and our seamen too, / We've put in warlike motion, / Straight
to the field our soldiers flew, / Our seamen to the ocean."
"Constitution
& Guerriere," "Naval
Triumph, Patriotic Diggers," and "Huzza!
Old Iron Sides" celebrate the U.S. frigate Constitution's sinking of
the British warship Guerriere with lines such as: "The Constitution's glory! /
Her crew so bold and brave! / Are fam'd in brilliant story! / Our rights defend
and save."
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Military losses often fueled the
war effort as much as victories. For example, the "Battle
of Queenstown" prefaces the song with a synopsis of the October 1812 conflict
near Niagara Falls in which U.S. soldiers captured Queenstown but due to "the
excessive fatigue of the troops, . . . and the great deficiency of ammunition,
they were unable to resist [British forces] . . . . The battle continued 11 hours,
during which the greatest bravery was displayed by our troops." The song then
celebrates the effort of the the battle with the chorus, "Then let each bold warrior
now gird on his shield, / And swear while he's breath that he never will yield."
- After reviewing the lyrics, who
would you think were some of the most important military leaders of the War of
1812?
- Who do you think is the intended
audience of these songs?
- How do these songs use defeats to
rally support for the war?
- How do these songs compare to the
Civil War songs in this collection that describe military battles and leaders?
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