Revolutionary War Songs
With the coming of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Scott has gotten an interest in trying to collect songs that are emblematic and representative of that era. What follows are his humble efforts. (Maybe by the time we get to the anniversary of Yorktown in 2031, this page will be a little more impressive.)
The Liberty Song- by John Dickinson
For most Americans today, if they recognize the name "John Dickinson" at all, it from the "bad guy" in the musical 1776. He was a conservative, and he did not like the idea of rebelling violently against Britain. He did not sign the Declaration of Independence.
However, that portrayal of him is unfair. He was an important leader in the protests against the taxes from Parliament. Between 1767 and 1768, he wrote a series of essays called Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania in which he argued that England could not tax its colonies. These essays have said to be the most widely distributed, quoted, and debated points before the coming of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and they were setting the stage for American unity and protests 8 years before the Declaration of Independence. He put those ideas to music in the song called "The Liberty Song." This song became enormously popular as a song of resistance.
Dickinson, from Pennsylvania, sent a copy of the song to his friend James Otis in Boston, and wrote to him: "I enclose you a song for American Freedom. ...I have long since renounced poetry, but indifferent songs are very powerful on certain occasions. I venture to invoke the deserted muses."
Historian Kenneth Silverman assessed the song to be "not so much useful as indespensible. ...It enabled people to experience directly the idea of strength in unity, by enacting it in boisterous choral singing... By wedding the current political arguments to music, Dickinson knew, he drew on emotional resources that the words alone could not muster."
For a tune, Dickinson used the English sea shanty known as "Heart of Oak" by William Boyce, a song that was very popular in the British Navy.
Sir Peter Parker (A New War Song)
No, it's not a song about Spider-man. Let's get that out of the way.
This song is about the Battle of Sullivan's Island, which occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, a week before the Declaration of Independence.
