Exploring U.S. History Through Music

Music has played an important role in U.S. history by inspiring some to fight wars and others to demand peace, for slaves to escape to freedom and workers to organize. Whether it’s “Yankee Doodle” or “Blowin’ in the Wind,” discover how Americans making music have made history through these direct links on The Times’ Launch Point Web site: https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

Level 1

Drinking Gourd Song: The Drinking Gourd refers to the North Star. This elementary class project explains how the “Drinking Gourd Song” gave directions for slaves using the Underground Railroad to find their way.

https://www.beavton.k12.or.us/Greenway/leahy/ugrr/gourd.htm

The Star Spangled Banner: From Poem to National Anthem: View archival photos and documents that tell how a poem written after an important battle in the War of 1812 became our national anthem.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/6_thestory/6b_osay/fs6b.html

Heart and Soul: A Celebration of African American Music: Beginning with spirituals on up to blues, jazz, classical and rock ‘n’ roll, listen and learn about the contributions of African Americans to music and how these styles of music reflected the spirit of the times.

https://www.worldbook.com/fun/aamusic/html/intro.htm

Level 2

History of California Mission Music: Read about the history of California missions and listen to music from that time, such as excerpts from the celebratory “Bird Song” of the Cahuilla Indian tribe and hymns sung in Latin and Spanish. https://www.californiamissions.com/music/index.html

Poetry and Music of the War Between the States: Both Union and Confederate armies used music to rally the troops and even help win battles such as Gettysburg and Williamsburg. Learn about the duties of military bands during the Civil War, discover the story behind the bugle melody called “Taps” and read poems and songs that express the experiences of both sides of the war.

https://users.erols.com/kfraser/

I Hear America Singing: Explore U.S. history through a timeline that brings together music, art, writings and philosophy from the 1770s to the present. Hear audio clips and interviews, get acquainted with composers and learn about influences on American music.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/

Level 3

History in Song: The Industrial Workers of the World union used songs to organize its efforts, and folk singers, including Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Buffy Sainte-Marie, wrote songs to dramatize such issues as the civil-rights movement, the nuclear-arms race and the Vietnam War. Find out how music has been used to educate and inspire action from the Revolutionary War through the 1960s.

https://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/history.html

American Folk Life Center Digital Collections: How does music from the California Gold Rush compare with songs from the Great Depression? This collection of historic recordings, documents and photos lets you experience Appalachian fiddle tunes, blues and gospel from the 1930s and traditional songs of the Omaha Indian tribe from the 1890s and the 1980s.

https://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/ndl.html

Popular Songs in American History: Listen to songs from the Revolutionary War and into the early 1900s and discover their historical context.

https://www.contemplator.com/america/

EXPLORER’S QUEST

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

In the “Drinking Gourd Song,” what time of year is recommended for slaves to escape to freedom?

CLUE: See Drinking Gourd Song

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 100 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: Violins produce the highest sounds of all the string instruments because they have the shortest strings.

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This column was designed by Anna Manring.