Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885

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1) War Stories: Memories of the Civil War in Song

"Little Joe"

Additional songs about the Civil War can be found by searching on words such as regiment and funeral. A look at the influence of Civil War music on contemporary songwriters is available in the first section of the Special Presentation, "A Decade of Music in America, 1870-1879", entitled "A New Generation of Songwriters".

2) Slavery on the Stage: Minstrel Depictions of the End of Slavery

African-American communities emphasized their first decade of freedom with celebrations such as "Juneteenth," but traveling minstrel troupes reflected larger social and political sentiments with an emphasis on the nostalgic side of slavery. Songs such as "Slavery Days" and "Goin' from de cotton fields" feature singers longing for the days of the abolished institution. Similar songs can be found by searching on slavery, plantation, massa, Dixie, and South. Although many of these songs reflect the popular sentiments of minstrel performers and their audiences, they are never tempered by more sobering responses to the end of slavery in the Reconstruction era as evidenced by the creation of Freedmen's Bureaus and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Possible questions for students include:

• What aspects of slavery are celebrated in these songs?
• Who were these minstrels and who was their audience?
• What is the appeal of these songs to both groups?
• What was the role and value of these songs in Reconstruction era America?

3) African-American Songwriters

As minstrelsy gained popularity, some African-American performers formed their own "authentic" troupes and a few even wrote their own material. One of the most prominent African-American composers of the era was James A. Bland. He penned pieces such as "Carry me back to old Virginny" and "Dem Golden Slippers." Other major African-American songwriters featured in this collection include Sam Lucas, who wrote "Carve dat Possum" and "De day I as sot free". Some possible questions for students include the following: What attitudes towards slavery and race are portrayed in these songs? How do these songs compare with minstrel tunes by white songwriters? How do these songs compare with spirituals and jubilee songs that date back to the days of slavery?

"Carve dat Possum"

4) The Depiction of Ethnic Groups

"The Coolie Chinee"

While these songs were popular, depictions of Asian immigrants were not as common as songs about African-Americans and other European immigrants. In fact, ethnic groups were primarily represented in song by comic and romantic pieces about Irish and German immigrants who entered America prior to the 1870s. Laments for the nations immigrants left behind are described in songs such as "German immigrants' song of home" and "I'll take you home again, Kathleen" (an audio clip is available in the section, "In Performance--Choral Works from the Collection").

Comic and patriotic national songs about various ethnicities are available by searching on Irish, German, Italy, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Scotland, Russia, Wales, and Chinese while a search on Indian reveals only two instrumentals referring to Native Americans: "An Indian Tale" and "Indian corn dance." The depiction of ethnicity in these songs is discussed in greater detail in the "Ethnic Groups and Popular Songs" section of "A Decade of Music in America, 1870-79". Some possible questions for students include:

• How are ethnic groups depicted in these songs?
• What characteristics and events do songwriters focus on?
• Why might immigrants be most often represented in comic and romantic songs?
• Why are German and Irish immigrants discussed most often?

5) Inventions

As the influx of immigrants changed the face of America in the late nineteenth century, technological innovations changed the nation's landscape. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. He invented the electric lightbulb two years later.

Telephone Waltz

These and other new devices such as the telephone and telegraph were demonstrated at national expositions and imitated and celebrated in a variety of song styles. Instrumental works such as "Railroad galop" simulated the sound of a steam engine while a polka entitled "Electric Sparks" was inspired by the telephone. Waltzes, gallops, polkas, and marches are just some of the musical styles found by searching on railroad, electricity, telegraph, or telephone. Students can discuss how these inventions lent themselves to musical imitation.

6) Urbanization, Industrialization, and the World of Work

The years between 1870 and 1885 were a period of rapid urbanization. A search on terms such as city, New York City, or even Brooklyn, yield hundreds of songs about city life in the late nineteenth century.

"The mill's shut down"

Songs about labor strife, on the other hand, are available with a search on strike. "The Workers' anvil" leads the call for a strike "for the cause of labor, strike for your homes and freedom." Billy Pastor writes in "Eight hour strike," "Capital never such a victory saw, as the workmen will win in an eight-hour law."

Labor protest wasn't the only problem plaguing cities. Urban areas had to deal with crimes like those depicted in "Three cheers for our city's defenders!," the disparity of economic classes described in "Give bread to the poor," and poverty as depicted in "Poverty's child" and "Shivering and shaking out in the cold"--which is also available as an audio clip. Search on poor, poverty, crime, temperance, drink, beg, and begging for more evidence of social troubles in the city.

7) Women in Society

Women's suffrage and early strains of the feminist movement began in the 1880s. One example of the increased social awareness of women is available with a search on vote and the listing of a song, "Shall women vote." Another example is "Daughters of Freedom! The Ballot be yours" which includes an audio clip recorded by the Music for the Nation Singers from the section, "In Performance--Choral Works from the Collection".

Women weren't yet represented by the ballot but they were an integral part of the city life depicted by the songwriters. For example, "Riding on the Elevated Railroad" exclaims,

The two women may be different in a number of ways but both are at work in the busy city.