When Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware was exhibited at the Stuyvesant House in New York City in 1851 it sparked a fervor of love for the United States of America. With its dramatic depiction of George Washington gallantly leading a nautical charge to the enemy with an American flag flapping gloriously behind him, the painting stirred intense patriotic feelings with the public. Crowds flocked to see the future president of America standing ramrod in the bow of a boat filled with intrepid oarsmen rowing arduously through myriad floes of ice in the rough river for the honorable cause of freedom. Countless copies of this beloved canvas were subsequently displayed all over America.
Like many other youngsters of my time, I saw a copy of this painting hanging in my school and in textbooks and was duly inspired by the dramatic story it told. It helped me cultivate a deep appreciation for the sacrifices the brave men and women of the American armed forces make to keep our country safe. But as much as the dots on that distinguished canvas charged me emotionally, I developed an even keener appreciation for America from the rousing musical notes that flowed out of the hearts and minds of spirited composers and lyricists of the past.
In my day, music was an integral part of early classroom instruction. Elementary school students were musically weaned on such songs as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee (America),” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” and “America the Beautiful.”
In junior high I was introduced to other patriotic songs such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Just Before the Battle Mother,” “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” “Tenting Tonight,” “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” as well as rousing marches such as “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Semper Fidelis,” “The Washington Post” march, “Americans We” and “The President’s March”. These compositions transported me back in time and imparted in me a vicarious feeling of how it felt to fight for democracy and then revel in its crucial victories.
Furthering my recognition of patriotism through music was Tin Pan Alley, which weighed in as it always did to reflect sentiments of the times with songs, producing such patriotic gems as “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Over There,” and God Bless America.”
My admiration for the invaluable contributions of America’s intrepid servicemembers was heightened by the official songs of the American armed forces: “Anchors Aweigh” (for the U.S. Navy), “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” “The Marines Hymn,” “The U.S. Air Force Song” (sometimes called “Wild Blue Yonder”) and “Semper Paratus” (for the U.S. Coast Guard), and now “Semper Supra” for the Space Force.
Many of the patriotic songs of America came out of wars that were fought to liberate a country from imperial rule or to abolish slavery or to preserve independence and freedom in countries around the world threatened by conquering nations.
Today we can teach schoolchildren songs from America’s patriotic album. These songs not only inculcate patriotism but educate youngsters on the history of America and help them understand the sacrifices that were made so all of us here today can live in a free country.
The 250th anniversary of America will be celebrated on July 4, 2026. That’s 250 years after the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and with this celebrated beginning all those years ago, so began the journey of the former 13 colonies as a new United States.
Over the years, the great nation of America would become embroiled in wars with other countries as well as its own internecine conflicts, but songs were always there to provide a musical backdrop to it, to help the country’s citizens and soldiers remember that independence is a principle not to be taken for granted, that self-determination is a gift to be savored, that freedom is a right worth fighting for.
Even in America today with people seemingly divided like never before and young people perhaps not as cognizant as previous generations of the sacrifices our predecessors made so they may live in freedom, music can bring us together. A process of uniting could be fostered in our schools and homes, at town hall meetings and in churches, at sporting events and concerts, by celebrating the songs that have united Americans since the country’s founding.
While we should always remember the sacrifices of our brave soldiers of the past, we should likewise never forget the names of those who contributed to the patriotic music of yesteryear. Writers such as Samuel Francis Smith, Julia Ward Howe, George Frederick Root, Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward, Francis Scott Key, Charles Zimmermann, Robert Crawford, Patrick Gilmore, George M. Cohan, John Philip Sousa, Henry Fillmore, and Irving Berlin may not be known to many in the American public today, but their works are an integral part of the canon of American patriotic music. Through the years their fiery, courageous and impassioned songs encouraged a deep respect for the iron resolve of leaders and soldiers who founded and kept the United States inextricably bound together, and for the unmitigated pride citizens felt for treading freely on American soil. Let the milestone of America’s 250th birthday be a reminder not just of the sacrifices that were made to keep our nation free, but of America’s great heritage of music patriotism.