Abraham, Martin, and John

Abraham, Martin, and John
Jackie Kennedy: Economics, Discovery and Daily Life

Skill: Middle School
Time Required: one week


Introduction:

Jacqueline Kennedy, known for her love of music, once stated, “Constant music – no dull moments.”  Thus when guests entered the East Room, they no longer did so in silence, they entered to the sounds of the Marine Band.  The musical tastes of the President and First Lady were varied; jazz, classical, Broadway musicals and rock and roll all were heard in the White House during the Kennedy administration.  They even caused a bit of a scandal by having “twisting in the historic East Room.”  Throughout history music has played an inspirational role.  One form of music, protest music, has even inspired us to change history.  During the Kennedy Administration, the change on the horizon was civil rights and music played a central role in this struggle.  One of the more sorrowful songs of the Civil Rights Movement was Abraham, Martin, and John, which paid tribute to President Kennedy and his efforts to end segregation.

Objectives:

  • In this lesson students will examine U.S. history through the lens of protest songs.
  • Protest Music timeline link

Materials Required:

Student access to the Internet or access to a computer connected to a printer.

Procedures:

Below are lists of protest songs and links to the songs’ lyrics.   

Students can access the song lyrics via the Internet or the classroom teachers can print out the lyrics prior to class.  

Direct students to analyze the lyrics prior to doing research: What was the state of mind of the song writer?  What events were probably going on when the song was written?  

Once students have analyzed the lyrics, they should then research the life of the song writer and time period and then write a paper which will synthesize the analysis of the lyrics and their research.

Extending the Lesson:

To extend this lesson place students in groups of five or fewer and have each group select one of the eras indicated by the song categories below.  Once an era has been selected, direct students to create a musical using each of their songs from that era.

Sources & Resources:


Websites:

American Revolution:
 
http://www.contemplator.com/america/ydoodle.html 
“Yankee Doodle”/American Revolution
http://www.contemplator.com/america/andre.html 
“The Ballad of Major Andre”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/kegs.html 
“Battle of the Kegs”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/saratoga.html 
“Battle of Saratoga”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/cruelwar.html 
“The Cruel War”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/redcoat.html 
“The Dying Redcoat”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/freeamer.html 
“Free America”
http://www.contemplator.com/england/girl.html 
“The Girl I Left Behind”
http://www.contemplator.com/america/johnny.html 
“Johnny’s gone for a Soldier”
http://www.contemplator.com/sea/paljones.html 
“Paul Jones”
 
 
Slave Spirituals:
 
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm 
“Free At Last”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/we_shall_overcome.htm 
“We Shall Overcome”
http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/followthedrinkinggourd.htm 
“Following the Drinking Gourd”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/before_i_d_be_slave_oh_freedom.htm 
“Before I Be a Slave (Oh, Freedom)”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/amazing_grace.htm 
“Amazing Grace”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/blow_you_trumpet_gabriel.htm                                                                                                                                                                                                    “Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/didn_t_my_lord_delier_daniel.htm
“Didn’t My Lord Delier Daniel”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/go_down_moses1.htm 
“Go Down Moses”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/swing_low_sweet_chariot_swing_lo.htm 
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
 
 
Civil War, Union Side:
 
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=battlehymn 
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”
 http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=johnbrown 
“John Brown’s Body” 
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=lincolnliberty 
“Lincoln and Liberty”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=battlecry 
“Battle Cry of Freedom”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=sherman 
“When Sherman Marched Down to the Sea”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=barlow 
“Billy Barlow”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=dearflag 
“For the Dear Old Flag I Die”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=grafted 
“Grafted Into the Army”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=jubilo 
“Kingdom Coming (Year of Jubilee)
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=marching 
“Marching Along”
 
 
Civil War, Confederate Side:
 
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=dixie 
“Dixie Land”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=godsave 
“God Save the South”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=gooberpeas 
“Goober Peas”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=lorena 
“Lorena”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=richmond 
“Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=raid 
“Riding a Raid”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=stonewall 
“Stonewall Jackson’s Way”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=bonnieblue 
“The Bonnie Blue Flag”
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=rebel 
“The Rebel Soldier (Southern Appalachian Folk Song)
http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=rose 
“Yellow Rose of Texas” 
  
 
Civil Rights Movement – African Americans:
 
http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/american.studies.s98/we.shall.overcome.html 
“We Shall Overcome”/
http://folkarchive.de/bham.html 
“Birmingham Sunday”
http://folkarchive.de/blind.html 
“The Blinding of Isaac Woodard”
http://folkarchive.de/deathof.html 
“The Death of Emmett Till”
http://www.woodyguthrie.de/jimcrow.html 
“Jim Crow”
http://folkarchive.de/melull.html 
“Medgar Evers Lullaby”
http://www.folkarchive.de/heresto.html 
“Here’s to the State of Mississippi”
http://www.folkarchive.de/strange.html 
“Strange Fruit”
http://www.folkarchive.de/talkingb.html 
“Talking Birmingham Jam”
http://folkarchive.de/abraam.html 
“Abraham, Martin, and John
 
Civil Rights Movement – Native Americans:
 
http://folkarchive.de/ira.html 
“The Ballad of Ira Hayes”
http://folkarchive.de/bigfoot.html 
“Bigfoot”
http://folkarchive.de/custer.html 
“Custer”
http://folkarchive.de/isthis.html#native 
“Is This Land Your Land?”
http://folkarchive.de/mycount.html 
“This Country ‘Tis of the People You’re Dying”
http://folkarchive.de/nowthat.html 
“Now That the Buffalo’s Gone”
http://folkarchive.de/redwing.html 
“Red Wing”
http://folkarchive.de/senecas.html 
“Senecas (As Long as the Grass Shall Grow)”
http://folkarchive.de/sioux.html 
“The Sioux Indians” 
 

Vietnam War:

http://www.brownielocks.com/onetinesoldier.html 
“One Tin Soldier”
http://www.brownielocks.com/blowinginthewindWAVE.html 
“Blowin’ In the Wind”
http://www.brownielocks.com/thislandisyourland.html 
“This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land!”
http://www.brownielocks.com/ifihadahammer.html 
“If I Had a Hammer”
http://www.brownielocks.com/givepeaceachance.html 
“Give Peace a Chance”
http://www.brownielocks.com/wherehaveflowersgone.html 
“Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
http://www.brownielocks.com/peoplegot2befree.html 
“People Got to Be Free”
http://www.brownielocks.com/teachtheworldtosing.html 
“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”
http://www.brownielocks.com/reflections.html 
“Reflections”
http://www.brownielocks.com/eveofdestruction.html 
“Eve of Destruction”
 
 
http://www.contemplator.com/america/ 
(Popular Music from Different American Eras)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modmusic.html#Socialism 
(European History Protest Songs)
 
 
Credits:  
 
 This lesson was written by Debra L. Clark, Kent State University.

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