Blackface minstrel tune conflating plantation slavery, the “Indian Nation” (& associated issues of Removal), & antebellum militarism in public space:
Picket Guard (Beers & Hewitt, 1861)
“His musket falls slack, his face dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep–
For their mother–may Heaven defend her.”
Come up from the fields, father (Walt Whitman, 1865)
Come up from the fields, father (Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass: Drum Taps, 1865)
Just Before the Battle, Mother (Root, 1863)
“At my request they sat down and sang, and when about half through, as I stepped to the door, a shell exploded within fifty yards…”
Southern Girl with the Homespun Dress
“Many a woman who never before held a plow, is now seen in the corn-field…”
Brown University: “African American Sheet Music”
“This consists of music by and relating to African Americans, from the 1820s to the present day, and consists of approximately 6,000 items. …”
My Old Kentucky Home (Foster, 1853)
Stephen Foster’s anthem recounts “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in three verses.
Lucy Neal (J. P. Carter, 1844)
A relentless love song & bitter critique of slavery:
Harvard: “American Minstrel Show Collection” (1823-1947)
Click to view collection guide from Harvard.edu: American minstrel show collection, 1823-1947 >> Master Diamond playbills >> T. D. Rice in character >> SCOPE & CONTENT: “The collection includes images of minstrel performers and troupes, playbills and programs of performances, and other miscellaneous materials concerning minstrel shows. The images are of individual minstrel performers and…
Slavery is a Hard Foe to Battle (Hutchinson Family, 1855)
…updates Dan Emmett’s “Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel” for an abolitionist audience.
Uncle Sam’s Farm: “One grand, ocean-bound republic”
Stephen A. Douglas (1858): “This Union will not only live forever, but it will extend and expand until it covers the whole continent, and makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound Republic…”
Song of the 1st of Arkansas (1864)
This rewrite of “Battle-Hymn of the Republic” puts the agency of social and economic upheaval squarely on the shoulders — or rather, under the boot-heels — of Colored Troops.
The Hardtacks 