primary source starters - the battle hymn of the · pdf file1. a library of congress primary...
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1
A Library of Congress Primary Source Starter
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Quick and easy activity ideas to start using Library of Congress primary sources in the classroom
Teacher Instructions
GoalStudents can think critically about the differences between these two songs, and what they can tell us about the different audiences and purposes these songs might have had.
BackgroundSometimes a familiar old song can turn out to have some surprising relatives.
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” has been around for more than 150 years, but it has a complicated family tree. It started out as a gentle religious camp meeting song in the 1850s, but within a few years, people began giving the tune their own lyrics.
One of the fiercest versions was called “John Brown’s Body” or “The John Brown Song”, after the radical abolitionist who was executed in 1859. Someone created a new set of lyrics that were full of marching, decaying bodies, and the threat of violence, and soon Union troops were singing it across the battlefields of the Civil War.
The patriotic lyrics that we know today were written by author Julia Ward Howe in 1861, and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was very popular throughout the Civil War. But so was “John Brown’s Body.” ActivitiesTeachers can have students:• Sing both songs• Compare the two songs to identify similarities and differences• Speculate about the people who created these songs, and their motivations for doing soAsk themselves:• Who might have sung these songs when they first became popular? What might their reasons have been?• How does encountering “John Brown’s Body” change the way you look at “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”?You can use the Library’s primary source analysis tool and teacher guides to help students analyze these documents in further depth.
For background information and recorded versions of these songs:John Brown’s Body/The Battle Hymn of the Republichttp://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/songs/john_brown.htmlFor more classroom materials and other teacher resources from the Library of Congress, visit loc.gov/teachers
1. 2.
Primary Sources
1. The Battle Hymn of the RepublicJulia Ward Howe. n.d. From Library of Congress: Civil War Song Sheets.http://www.loc.gov/item/amss.cw100430
2. John Brown SongN.p. n.d. From Library of Congress: American Song Sheets.http://www.loc.gov/item/amss.hc00015d
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TEA
CH
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An
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Pr
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BS
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Gui
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Hav
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Gui
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tude
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ple
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tions
as
they
resp
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to th
e
N
R
O
E
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prim
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sour
ce. E
ncou
rage
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T
F
S
L
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mns
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UC
Q
T
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Hav
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Hav
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re�e
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Wha
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you
won
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bout
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who
? ·
wha
t? ·
w
hen?
·
whe
re?
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hy?
· h
ow?
FU
RT
HE
R I
NV
ES
TIG
AT
ION
Hel
p st
uden
ts to
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tify
ques
tions
app
ropr
iate
for f
urth
er in
vest
igat
ion,
and
to d
evel
op a
rese
arch
str
ateg
y fo
r �nd
ing
answ
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ple
Que
stio
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Wha
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e do
you
wan
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know
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how
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you
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out
?
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w fo
llow
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sour
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writ
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xpla
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thin
k so.
loc.gov/teachers
LOC.gov/teachers