Causes

1. Causes • Primary Cause • Abolitionist Movement established by William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) in 1831 Garrison was militant in his stance regarding • Slavery • Alcohol • Tobacco • Freemasons • Capital punishment • Considered to be wildly radical, Garrison was mobbed in Boston in 1835 • The Anti-Slavery Society met on January, 1843, in Fanueil Hall, Boston • “Resolved, That the compact which exists between the North and the South is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell - involving both parties in atrocious criminality, and should be immediately annulled.” • South Carolina withdrew in 1860 • Fort Sumter bombarded in 1861 • Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops

2. The Music • Rallying Songs • Maryland! My Maryland! by James Rider RandallSung to the tune of O Tannenbaum • The First Gun is Fired! May God Protect the Right!by George F. Root • John Brown’s Body was set to the hymn Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us on Canaan’s Happy Shore? And later became through the hand of Julia Ward Howe, The Battle Hymn of the Republic • Dixie was composed by Dan Emmett for Bryant’s Minstrels in 1859 as a “Walk-around”

3. Dan Emmett • Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1815 • Remembered for his song “Dixie” • Composed in the spring of 1859 while he was with Bryant’s Minstrels in New York • Composed as a “walkaround”, it became popular in both the South and North • At the beginning of the Civil War, troops from both sides marched to this tune • In 1861 the song became associated with the South and was played for the inauguration of Jefferson Davis • President Lincoln advanced it to national song status when he requested a serenading band to play it • Emmett was not a Southern sympathizer • Emmett died in 1904 in Mount Vernon

4. The Music • Publisher E..T. Root and C.T. Cady, Chicago, 1858 • George F. Root (1820-1895) and Henry Clay Work (1832-1884) • George F. Root • Brother of E.T. Root • Taught music in Boston 1839-1844 • Taught music in New York 1844-1845 • Studied in Paris • Joined his brother in Chicago in 1859 • Root’s first Civil War song • The Battle Cry of Freedom; or Rally ‘Round the Flag

5. The Battle Cry of Freedom • Wildly popular within weeks • Sold at least 350,000 copies before the end of the war • Some commanders ordered their troops to sing it while going into battle • Root said that if he could not carry a musket in defense of his country, he was thankful he could serve in this way • Composed in 1862 • Gottschalk, in his journal (April 4, 1864) said • “ ‘The Battle Cry of Freedom’ is this obscure flower I have discovered on the heap of dirt (The Civil War songs) that the poetasters and musicasters have raised at the foot of their country’s alter since the war began. . . ‘The Battle Cry of Freedom’ ought to become our national air. . .” • Listen to The Battle Cry of Freedom

6. Civil War Songs • Songs with new words set to familiar and sometimes religious songs • Goober Peas - The Army Bean - The Sweet Bye and Bye • Songs reflecting heartbreak • Tenting on the Old Camp Ground by Walter Kittredge • The most popular song was • Henry Tucker’s Weeping Sad and Lonely • Published in 1863, it sold over 1,000,000 copies

7. Civil War Statistics • Population 35,000,000 • Military 5,665,000 • 360,00 Northern soldiers died • 385,000 Southern soldiers died • Total wounded or dying 1,000,000 out of a total army of 3,000,000 • The songs reflected reality

8. More Statistics • No great paintings or sculptures were created as a result of the Civil War • Lots of photographs • No great American symphonies, quartets, or operas were written • It was one of the great eras of popular song • No Southern city developed a major symphony orchestra or an important opera company for 50 years • Popular music industry was centered in the North

9. Music Marches On • Oral tradition music developed in the South • American popular song turned toward temperance with songs such as: • “Little Brown Jug” • The characteristic structure of the song remained • The verse for solo voice • The chorus for four part harmony • The favorite entertainment remained the minstrel show, but with blacks on stage for the first time • The Georgia Minstrels (1865) was the first

10. James Bland • Born October 22, 1854, in Flushing, New York • Educated in Washington, D.C. and graduated from HowardUniversity in 1873 • Achieved his greatest success in Great Britain between 1882 and 1901

11. James Bland 1854 - 1911 • Called “The World’s Greatest Minstrel Man” and “The Idol of the Music Halls” • His songs were sung by all minstrels - black and white, by college students, and by the American people • Most people did not know they were singing songs by a black composer • Attended high school in Washington, D.C. and studied pre-law at Howard University • A self-taught banjo player, he sang and played songs he himself had written

12. James Bland • Left home in 1875 to become a professional minstrel and toured with • Black Diamond troupe of Boston • Bohee Brothers • Sprague’s Georgia Minstrels • Harverly’s Genuine Colored Minstrels • Between 1881 and 1891 he became an international figure in entertainment • The minstrel show began to be replaced by the variety show in the mid 1890s and Bland was left behind

13. Bland’s Music • James Bland composed around 700 songs including • In the Evening by the Moonlight • In the Morning by the Bright Light • Oh, Dem Golden Slippers • Carry Me Back to Old Virginny • Bland published Carry Me Back to Old Virginny in 1878 when he was 24 • In 1940 it was adopted by Virginia as the official state song • About 45 years later it was “promoted” to state song emeritus (perhaps 1998) • As of 1999 Virginia has no state song, but there are now about 6 songs under consideration • Listen to Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

14. James Bland • Oh, Dem Golden Slippers was used as the theme song for the Mummers’ Annual New Year’s Day parade in Philadelphia for over 50 years • James Bland was one of the best minstrels around • He eventually performed without makeup

15. The Minstrel Show • Black performers, such as James Bland, rivaled the popularity of the white performers • James Bland was the first successful black songwriter in the history of the American song • The minstrel show gave the black American his first opportunity to perform on stage before a white audience • In the 1870s the Fisk University Jubilee Singers introduced black spirituals to the Northern white audience. This was called the first authentic American “Folk Music”

16. Fisk Jubilee Singers • In 1871, the nine original Jubilee Singers ensemble toured the United States and Europe. Two years later, the group grew to eleven members. The proceeds from these tours was used to build Jubilee Hall, one of the oldest structures in use at Fisk University and its first permanent building, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

17. Music in the New World • James Bland learned about the spiritual through hearing groups such as the Jubilee Singers as he had grown up in the middle-class North • The first person to set popular songs in an urban environment was Edward “Ned” Harrigan 1844-1911 (on left with Tony Hart). • Harrigan, Hart (b. 1855), and David Braham formed a performing-writing-composing team • John Riley’s Always Dry