Following the Revolutionary War, Americans were obsessed with politics and the newspapers that reported it. Music made front page news and brought men to blows. Hail Columbia! is the compelling story of of how Americans ranging from presidents to craftsmen cultivated music to fuel heatedpartisan debates over the future of the young republic during this a crucial period in the nation's history. Through music, they debated the meaning of liberty, the nature of the republic, and Americans' proper place within it. Using music for both propaganda and protest, they called for allegianceto a new federal government, spread utopian visions of worldwide revolution, blasted infringements on American freedoms, and spun compelling myths of national military might.In Hail Columbia!, author Laura Lohman uncovers hundreds of songs circulated in newspapers, broadsides, song collections, sheet music, manuscripts, and scrapbooks to fill a major gap in our understanding of American music between the Revolutionary and antebellum eras. Making extensive use ofnewspapers as a primary musical source and treating contrafact as a topic worthy of serious musical scholarship, Lohman traces how Americans as diverse as elite lawyers, immigrant actresses, humble craftsmen, and African American abolitionists used music for specific political purposes. Unpackingthe partisan and propagandist uses of songs commonly thought to be patriotic or national, she traces how Americans put well-known tunes like "Yankee Doodle" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" to disparate political ends when giving them new lyrics. As Lohman shows, such songs were a staple ofelectioneering, tavern gatherings, presidential encomia, street theatre, and community celebrations on occasions like July 4. Through song, Americans called their neighbors and fellow citizens to hail the nation, a nation defined in partisan terms.

Excerpt from The Columbian Naval Melody: A Collection of Songs and Odes, Composed on the Late Naval Victories and Other Occasions But he danced Yankee doodle home instead of Chevy: chase, sirs, And was very glad to get back to Boston again. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A collection of largely anonymous songs, ballads, and poems commemorating naval engagements from the Revolutionary War to World War I.