Summary - Conclusion - Bibliography:
Before Americans had access to the internet, television, radio, or even electricity, they had their voices and these voices were used to sing. The earliest European colonists sang about life, love, work, politics, and religion, although not necessarily in that order. Americans built upon British musical traditions to create an American musical style and the power of this music had an influence on the shaping and retelling of the events of each era. Although historical instruction ignored these songs for generations, we now know that these songs allow us to get a glimpse of what people read, heard, and sang at the time when the historical periods we study were actually unfolding. Selecting topical songs that were written about critical moments in the development of our nation’s First and Second Party Systems, and reworking their melodies to fit contemporary rock ‘n roll genres, is a unique but effective way for students and interested scholars to access these time capsules to our past.
This multimedia master’s thesis project has shown that European colonists’ lives were full of song and from the moment that these colonists began to conceive of the idea of an independent nation, music and political messages were synonymous. Later, the original use of topical and political songs to inform, inspire, and persuade Americans during the Revolutionary period carried over into the early days of the First Party System and right through to the Second Party System of the 1830s and 1840s. The partisan songs continued the Revolutionary lyrical references to liberty, slavery, and freedom from tyrants, as they placed the more specific messages of the Federalists and Democratic Republicans and later the Democrats and Whigs into the contentious public sphere. Songwriters from these parties interpreted events as they unfolded and the parties competed for the support of the general public. The examination of these lyrics as primary resources has broadened our understanding of this tumultuous period allowing us a window into the time period through which we can see and hear how people looked at the events and actors of history as they occurred. By examining and reproducing these songs in a contemporary musical format, we are able to provide teachers and students with an innovative
and compelling method of looking at history that may attract new interest and attention to this important period in U.S. history.
As historians we must not only show our students what is important about history but we must also find ways to present this history to the younger generations in a format that they actually use to access information. This project is a step in that direction, in that it is incorporating the internet and using music as a historical device to introduce, expand, and compliment the history of our nation. There is an abundance of songs from our history well beyond the scope of this project that may someday be re-recorded and utilized in historical analysis with the potential to broaden our understanding of history and extend the ways in which primary sources and historical research are presented to students and peers.
Images:
"The County Election" - Painting by George Caleb Bingham,
"Hunters of Kentucky" - America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
Music
The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too. A Collection of American Political Marches, Songs, and Dirges” Compact Disc Newport Classic Ltd. 1992
Professor Presley, MP3 recordings,“Jefferson and Liberty”, “New Verses –To an Old Tune”Unrealeased;
recorded 9/19/2011.
Professor Presley, MP3 recordings, “The Jackson Toast”, “Little Wat Ye Wa”, “On To Victory”. Unreleased: recorded Jan.-May 2012.
Documents credit
Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets.
The Hunters of Kentucky”. Library of Congress American Memory Collection.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amss:2:./temp/~ammem_7BKp:: Accessed April 7/2012.
Unknown author, Library of Congress, American Memory, American Singing: Nineteenth
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