Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860
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Historical Research: European Revolutions in American Music
Research the European revolutions of 1848 by examining American sheet music written to commemorate those revolutionary movements. "Vive la Republique, " published in New York in 1848, celebrated the abdication of Louis Philippe and the establishment of the Second French Republic. "Awakening of Italy" and "Il Vessilo, A Popular Hymn," celebrated Pope Pius IX's support of the Risorgimento (the movement for Italian unification). To the American public, Louis Kossuth, the leader of the abortive Hungarian insurrection against Austrian rule, was the most popular of the 1848 revolutionary leaders and received a tumultuous welcome when he visited the United States in 1851. Musical scores praised Kossuth as a freedom fighter. Secretary of State Daniel Webster toasted Kossuth at a Washington reception, saying that Americans would rejoice to see the U.S. model of government established in Hungary.
Search the collection to find more songs written about the European revolutions of 1848.
- What can you discern from musical scores commemorating revolutions in France, Italy, and Hungary?
- How were the revolutions of 1848 romanticized in the songs you examined? Do you think historical events are more likely to be romanticized in music than in other types of primary sources (such as essays, letters, military documents)? Why or why not?
- Why would Americans look favorably upon movements to overthrow European monarchies?