"Whigs! Whose sires for freedom bled,
Whigs! whom patriots oft have lead,
Whigs! by the "treasury spoils unfed,
On to victory!"!”[1]
In 1840, in the midst of what has been labeled the Second Party System, the Whigs and Democrats waged what many historians considered to be the most raucous, song filled presidential campaign
in the history of theUnited States. The use of hundreds of songs (like this remake of “On toVictory” excerpted above) for this campaign did not develop in a vacuum; in fact the use of songs for political purposes can be traced all the way back to the colonial period of American history. The purpose of this multimedia thesis project is to utilize the lyrics from topical political songs written and published during the early republic. Using these songs as primary resources I have reworked the lyrics to original rock n roll music in order to create new interest in the songs which along with an analysis of the lyrics can enhance our understanding of two crucial periods in the development of the
American democracy. This project will be useful to teachers and students of U.S. History looking for an innovative look at the partisan politics of the early republic.
I have been teaching history to middle school and high school students for the last 20 years and I have observed that a history curriculum enhanced with music provides a special kind of energy that promotes more interest in the subject and better retention of information for many of the students in my classroom. As a new teacher I looked far and wide for music to add to my lessons utilizing
songs from diverse artists such as Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill”to Jimmy Buffet’s “Changes in Latitude” to Scream’s “Laissez Faire”.
One day while playing Randy and Rusty McNeil’s remake of an old indentured servant song “The Trappan’ Maiden” (which my students claimed was so bad, it was good at showing the agony of indentured
servitude) I said to myself, “I can make a better song than this.” I thought back to my Punk Rock music days in the early 1980s when we
lived by the DO IT YOURSELF motto, we created our own bands, shows, flyers, magazines, and records; at this point I decided why not make my own music for the history classroom? This led to my writing and recording my first CD of original standards based U.S. History
songs titled Professor Presley History Rocks. Since the release of my first CD six years ago the world of music has continued to change and many students in the United States now have some sort of personal music device loaded with easily accessed songs from the internet that
provides a soundtrack to their lives. This new project provides a
unique musical and historical connection to engage students with rockin’ partisan campaign songs from bygone eras.
The first of the historical periods to be examined for this project
occurred during the formation of the first American political parties during the eight years of Washington’s presidency. This period commonly known as the First Party System featured the more
traditional elite centered Federalist Party battling with the more Liberal Democratic Republicans. During the First Party System the critical Election of 1800 was a turning point in American history when Jefferson and the Democratic/Republicans defeated President Adams
and the Federalists. The second historical period to be examined will be the formation and early years of the Second Party System which developed during the pivotal presidential Elections of 1824 and 1828 when John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson battled for the Presidency leading to the development of the Whig and Democratic parties.
People wrote the topical songs examined as part of this project during
highly contentious moments of democratic evolution during the First and Second Party Systems of the United States. During this early period Americans were working out who should govern and how the nation should be governed. Americans from the colonial period onward were a musical people and the reading of lyrics and the singing of songs were important parts of the developing American social and partisan political culture. Music was widely found and singing was part of the daily life for most Americans at home or working, church services, at meetings accompanied by toasts, and at public gatherings, dinners, parades, and
festivals. H. Wiley Hitchcock one of the foremost experts on the history of American music described this period as “a sort of golden age of musical participation in which teachers, composers, singers, and populace in general worked together fruitfully.”[2] Despite this rich heritage of music, historians had traditionally taught history without utilizing the vast amount of musical and lyrical sources that were available for those who looked; Historian Deane Root lamented that, “Music has been missing from our history. Generations of students and their teachers have viewed the past as if it had been silent.”[3]
In more recent times a handful of historians have looked to America’s music history to broaden our understanding of the past. Richard C. Spicer investigated the prevalence of political music in the early republic in his detailed study chronicling the routine use of songs, bands, and public celebrations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from the ratification of the Constitution to the War of 1812. Spicer stated, “To understand our own history, we should therefore learn from all these songs; and as we then tell the full story of our early national experience – which continues to define who we are today – we must remember, include, and bring back to life this largely forgotten music.” [4] This project is a small but I believe important step in shining the light on some of this musical history and bringing some of these songs back to life.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the publishing and singing of political songs was an essential part of the developing democratic culture of the early republic[5] and Gordon Wood argued that with the birth of the aggressive partisanship of the
First Party System all aspects of American culture including songs, were important tools used to build support for one party and to tear down the opposition. These types of political and topical songs are the focus of this paper and website. This project demonstrates that it is historically relevant to examine these songs as primary resources and provides the unique opportunity to compare and contrast topical songs from each
party during pivotal electoral moments in American history on an online website and this project also recreates a number of these songs in a modern musical format that brings new life and educational interest to these subjects through the power of music.
Background of Study:
To understand the importance of music in the political culture of the
early United States, one should first examine the history of music in the
colonies and the early years of the republic. During the early colonial period music was an integral part of the daily and religious lives of the American colonists and the singing of psalms was an important tool used by the clergy to teach lessons and raise the spirits of their congregations. According to Hitchcock the first “real book”to be
published in the British colonies was the Bay Psalm Book which was produced in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[6] This book simplified the
religious music from earlier versions of psalm books brought over from England, “but this was due to sociocultural factors rather than to any musical prejudice on the part of the Puritans.”[7] The need for better singing in the churches led to the first American music instruction books which in turn led to the first American music schools. These singing schools were seen as both religious and secular and mainly relied on English psalters and hymnals until the 1770s when revolutionary feelings may have led to the first school of truly
American composers. In fact, one of the first and most well known composers of this“First New England School” of composers was William Billings from Boston whose first tunebook, The New-England Psalm-Singer, had a cover engraving created by the Boston silversmith and patriot, Paul Revere. Billings was known to create graceful melodies but his popularity may have been due to his patriotic songs such as “Chester,” which became a rallying cry of the Revolution and showed the republican ideals that would shape the politics and political songs of
America:
Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And Slav’ry clank her galling chaines,
We fear them not, we trust in God,
New-england’s God for ever reigns.
Another verse stated.
The Foe comes on with haughty stride,
Our troops advance with martial noise.
Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth,
And Gen’rals yield to beardless Boys.[8]
The concepts of liberty, freedom from tyrants, and the often-found
slavery metaphor were important and powerful symbols used by the Patriots in the language of their cause and these expressions would be used repeatedly during the later partisan battles that developed. Wood argued in his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book The Radicalism of the
American Revolution that during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, “In the eyes of Europeans everywhere, Englishmen appeared
much too liberty-loving and egalitarian and indeed seemed infected with a ‘republican spirit.’”[9] The Englishmen and others who moved to the thirteen colonies developed a heightened awareness of liberty and therefore a heightened suspicion of powers that could take liberty
away.
Historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Francois Furstenberg and others have explained the prevalence of the slavery metaphor which Locke argued was when something was taken from a man without his consent. Independence and property were practically interchangeable both in Britain and America during the eighteenth century and these ideals deeply influenced Jefferson. Furstenberg believed that “The narrative of resistance, slavery, and freedom reached a vast audience, powerfully inflecting early national political discourse”[1] Bailyn, Furstenberg and others focused on letters, news editorials, treatises and other primary sources but they did not examine one of the important but often overlooked ways in which this vast audience was reached and
that was through songs.
An 1856 book Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution contains over 90 songs covering topics from the Stamp Act in 1765 to the disbanding of the army in 1783 and nearly every song in this comprehensive collection that was written up to the time of the Declaration of Independence touches on the themes discussed by Locke and others of liberty, resistance to tyranny and political slavery and the songs in this project show that these themes became a common feature of partisan political discourse.
Today the ease with which music can be created, accessed, and propagated throughout the world would no doubt boggle the minds of the early American songwriters, nevertheless even in those early days the songs spread relatively quickly. Jerome L. Rodnitzky explained the manner in which these types of songs were dispersed, “The older
British songs had been handed down orally, but the new American ballads were published in newspapers and periodicals. These printed or“broadside” ballads were a well developed art form by 1776 and were perfectly suited for adversary and propagandist nature of the Revolution.”[1] Songs printed in one newspaper would often spread to regional newspapers throughout the colonies thus helping to create a more unified political culture. These same techniques would later be used in partisan battles that would erupt during the First and Second Party Systems.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century there is evidence of two
bodies of American music. There was the traditional utilitarian and entertainment music which Hitchcock described as, “broadly based, widespread, naïve, and unselfconscious.”[1] This style would be opposed to the cultivated fine art style of music that came across the Atlantic and was popular with the upper classes. The political and campaign songs from this period clearly fit into the first body of American music described above with the popular traditions and their use of commonly known melodies which were mainly British tunes. With their ease of singing, these songs became an important tool for the partisan battles that ensued between the Federalists and
Democratic/Republicans, and later between the Democrats and the Whigs as the nation’s democratic and republican principles were applied to the actual running of the government and the American democracy expanded to include universal white male suffrage. Today these songs can be useful teaching tools to broaden our understanding of these important moments of American History.
Whigs! whom patriots oft have lead,
Whigs! by the "treasury spoils unfed,
On to victory!"!”[1]
In 1840, in the midst of what has been labeled the Second Party System, the Whigs and Democrats waged what many historians considered to be the most raucous, song filled presidential campaign
in the history of theUnited States. The use of hundreds of songs (like this remake of “On toVictory” excerpted above) for this campaign did not develop in a vacuum; in fact the use of songs for political purposes can be traced all the way back to the colonial period of American history. The purpose of this multimedia thesis project is to utilize the lyrics from topical political songs written and published during the early republic. Using these songs as primary resources I have reworked the lyrics to original rock n roll music in order to create new interest in the songs which along with an analysis of the lyrics can enhance our understanding of two crucial periods in the development of the
American democracy. This project will be useful to teachers and students of U.S. History looking for an innovative look at the partisan politics of the early republic.
I have been teaching history to middle school and high school students for the last 20 years and I have observed that a history curriculum enhanced with music provides a special kind of energy that promotes more interest in the subject and better retention of information for many of the students in my classroom. As a new teacher I looked far and wide for music to add to my lessons utilizing
songs from diverse artists such as Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill”to Jimmy Buffet’s “Changes in Latitude” to Scream’s “Laissez Faire”.
One day while playing Randy and Rusty McNeil’s remake of an old indentured servant song “The Trappan’ Maiden” (which my students claimed was so bad, it was good at showing the agony of indentured
servitude) I said to myself, “I can make a better song than this.” I thought back to my Punk Rock music days in the early 1980s when we
lived by the DO IT YOURSELF motto, we created our own bands, shows, flyers, magazines, and records; at this point I decided why not make my own music for the history classroom? This led to my writing and recording my first CD of original standards based U.S. History
songs titled Professor Presley History Rocks. Since the release of my first CD six years ago the world of music has continued to change and many students in the United States now have some sort of personal music device loaded with easily accessed songs from the internet that
provides a soundtrack to their lives. This new project provides a
unique musical and historical connection to engage students with rockin’ partisan campaign songs from bygone eras.
The first of the historical periods to be examined for this project
occurred during the formation of the first American political parties during the eight years of Washington’s presidency. This period commonly known as the First Party System featured the more
traditional elite centered Federalist Party battling with the more Liberal Democratic Republicans. During the First Party System the critical Election of 1800 was a turning point in American history when Jefferson and the Democratic/Republicans defeated President Adams
and the Federalists. The second historical period to be examined will be the formation and early years of the Second Party System which developed during the pivotal presidential Elections of 1824 and 1828 when John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson battled for the Presidency leading to the development of the Whig and Democratic parties.
People wrote the topical songs examined as part of this project during
highly contentious moments of democratic evolution during the First and Second Party Systems of the United States. During this early period Americans were working out who should govern and how the nation should be governed. Americans from the colonial period onward were a musical people and the reading of lyrics and the singing of songs were important parts of the developing American social and partisan political culture. Music was widely found and singing was part of the daily life for most Americans at home or working, church services, at meetings accompanied by toasts, and at public gatherings, dinners, parades, and
festivals. H. Wiley Hitchcock one of the foremost experts on the history of American music described this period as “a sort of golden age of musical participation in which teachers, composers, singers, and populace in general worked together fruitfully.”[2] Despite this rich heritage of music, historians had traditionally taught history without utilizing the vast amount of musical and lyrical sources that were available for those who looked; Historian Deane Root lamented that, “Music has been missing from our history. Generations of students and their teachers have viewed the past as if it had been silent.”[3]
In more recent times a handful of historians have looked to America’s music history to broaden our understanding of the past. Richard C. Spicer investigated the prevalence of political music in the early republic in his detailed study chronicling the routine use of songs, bands, and public celebrations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from the ratification of the Constitution to the War of 1812. Spicer stated, “To understand our own history, we should therefore learn from all these songs; and as we then tell the full story of our early national experience – which continues to define who we are today – we must remember, include, and bring back to life this largely forgotten music.” [4] This project is a small but I believe important step in shining the light on some of this musical history and bringing some of these songs back to life.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the publishing and singing of political songs was an essential part of the developing democratic culture of the early republic[5] and Gordon Wood argued that with the birth of the aggressive partisanship of the
First Party System all aspects of American culture including songs, were important tools used to build support for one party and to tear down the opposition. These types of political and topical songs are the focus of this paper and website. This project demonstrates that it is historically relevant to examine these songs as primary resources and provides the unique opportunity to compare and contrast topical songs from each
party during pivotal electoral moments in American history on an online website and this project also recreates a number of these songs in a modern musical format that brings new life and educational interest to these subjects through the power of music.
Background of Study:
To understand the importance of music in the political culture of the
early United States, one should first examine the history of music in the
colonies and the early years of the republic. During the early colonial period music was an integral part of the daily and religious lives of the American colonists and the singing of psalms was an important tool used by the clergy to teach lessons and raise the spirits of their congregations. According to Hitchcock the first “real book”to be
published in the British colonies was the Bay Psalm Book which was produced in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[6] This book simplified the
religious music from earlier versions of psalm books brought over from England, “but this was due to sociocultural factors rather than to any musical prejudice on the part of the Puritans.”[7] The need for better singing in the churches led to the first American music instruction books which in turn led to the first American music schools. These singing schools were seen as both religious and secular and mainly relied on English psalters and hymnals until the 1770s when revolutionary feelings may have led to the first school of truly
American composers. In fact, one of the first and most well known composers of this“First New England School” of composers was William Billings from Boston whose first tunebook, The New-England Psalm-Singer, had a cover engraving created by the Boston silversmith and patriot, Paul Revere. Billings was known to create graceful melodies but his popularity may have been due to his patriotic songs such as “Chester,” which became a rallying cry of the Revolution and showed the republican ideals that would shape the politics and political songs of
America:
Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And Slav’ry clank her galling chaines,
We fear them not, we trust in God,
New-england’s God for ever reigns.
Another verse stated.
The Foe comes on with haughty stride,
Our troops advance with martial noise.
Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth,
And Gen’rals yield to beardless Boys.[8]
The concepts of liberty, freedom from tyrants, and the often-found
slavery metaphor were important and powerful symbols used by the Patriots in the language of their cause and these expressions would be used repeatedly during the later partisan battles that developed. Wood argued in his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book The Radicalism of the
American Revolution that during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, “In the eyes of Europeans everywhere, Englishmen appeared
much too liberty-loving and egalitarian and indeed seemed infected with a ‘republican spirit.’”[9] The Englishmen and others who moved to the thirteen colonies developed a heightened awareness of liberty and therefore a heightened suspicion of powers that could take liberty
away.
Historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Francois Furstenberg and others have explained the prevalence of the slavery metaphor which Locke argued was when something was taken from a man without his consent. Independence and property were practically interchangeable both in Britain and America during the eighteenth century and these ideals deeply influenced Jefferson. Furstenberg believed that “The narrative of resistance, slavery, and freedom reached a vast audience, powerfully inflecting early national political discourse”[1] Bailyn, Furstenberg and others focused on letters, news editorials, treatises and other primary sources but they did not examine one of the important but often overlooked ways in which this vast audience was reached and
that was through songs.
An 1856 book Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution contains over 90 songs covering topics from the Stamp Act in 1765 to the disbanding of the army in 1783 and nearly every song in this comprehensive collection that was written up to the time of the Declaration of Independence touches on the themes discussed by Locke and others of liberty, resistance to tyranny and political slavery and the songs in this project show that these themes became a common feature of partisan political discourse.
Today the ease with which music can be created, accessed, and propagated throughout the world would no doubt boggle the minds of the early American songwriters, nevertheless even in those early days the songs spread relatively quickly. Jerome L. Rodnitzky explained the manner in which these types of songs were dispersed, “The older
British songs had been handed down orally, but the new American ballads were published in newspapers and periodicals. These printed or“broadside” ballads were a well developed art form by 1776 and were perfectly suited for adversary and propagandist nature of the Revolution.”[1] Songs printed in one newspaper would often spread to regional newspapers throughout the colonies thus helping to create a more unified political culture. These same techniques would later be used in partisan battles that would erupt during the First and Second Party Systems.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century there is evidence of two
bodies of American music. There was the traditional utilitarian and entertainment music which Hitchcock described as, “broadly based, widespread, naïve, and unselfconscious.”[1] This style would be opposed to the cultivated fine art style of music that came across the Atlantic and was popular with the upper classes. The political and campaign songs from this period clearly fit into the first body of American music described above with the popular traditions and their use of commonly known melodies which were mainly British tunes. With their ease of singing, these songs became an important tool for the partisan battles that ensued between the Federalists and
Democratic/Republicans, and later between the Democrats and the Whigs as the nation’s democratic and republican principles were applied to the actual running of the government and the American democracy expanded to include universal white male suffrage. Today these songs can be useful teaching tools to broaden our understanding of these important moments of American History.