MUSIC AND CONFLICT:
FROM PATRIOTISM TO PROTEST
Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
The Facts
Important Dates:
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April 4, 1776: Paul Revere's famous ride to warn "The red coats are coming!"
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April 19, 1775: The first shots of the war were fired in Lexington, Massachusetts.
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There were 13 American colonoies fighting for independence from Britain and King George.
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217,000 U.S. troops were involved in the fighting
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June 17, 1775: The Battle of Bunker Hill
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July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was adopted.
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1783: The Treaty of Paris was signed acknowleding America's independence and establishing borders
Quotes and Battle Cries:
"Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" - William Prescott at the Battle of Bunker Hill versus a British attack.
"No taxation without representation" - colonists battle cry over their taxation of goods and services by Britain without any representation in British Parliament.
"Give me liberty of give me death!" - said during a speech by Patrick Henry in 1775 raising militias towards revolution.
“I have not yet begun to fight!” - John Paul Jones in response to the British fleet requesting him to surrender.
“I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” - Nathan Hale before being hung by the British for spying.
Where in the world . . .
Click the map icon to find out more about where this war took place and the nature of the battlefields.
Coming Together:
Click on each icon in the picture below to find out how music and war came together.
Songs and Lyrics of the War
The song "Revolutionary Tea" depicts the Colonists' feelings toward their parent-child relationship with Great Britain. In the song, the "rich lady" mother (Britain) decides to start charging her daughter (the Colonies) a tax on her tea. The daughter is outraged and in one verse of the song cries:
Oh mother, dear mother," the daughter replied.
"I'll not do the thing that you ask.
"I'm willing to pay a fair price for the tea,
But never a thrupenny tax,
But never a thrupenny tax, but never a thrupenny tax,
Although the artist is unknown, the message is clear - "no taxation without representation!"
Revolutionary Tea
by Unknown Author
Yankee Doodle Dandy
by Dr. Richard Schuckberg
Sung as a patriotic song today, the tune was actually sung by Britsh soldiers to mock the colonists whom they saw as unorganized and simple. To understand the song, one must understand the slang of the time:
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"Doodle" means simpleton or ninny
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"Macaroni" means a fashionable young man and was also a term for a popular wig worn by men of the times.
The British thought the colonists were naive and thought of themselves as fashionable gentlemen just by putting a feather in their cap.
Patriotism vs. Protest
The songs of the Revolutionary War were a mixture of patriotism and protest. Songs such as "Yankee Doodle" although used mockingly by British soldiers, was eventually embraced by the Colonists as a patriotic song. In fact, an American band played this very song when General Corwallis' troops surrendered at Yorktown. Protest songs such as "Revolutionary Tea" depict the bitterness the Colonists felt toward Britain and the ultimate insult of taxing their tea. The song was said to be inspired by one of the most infamous protests - the Boston Tea Party.