

ㄽᩥ
Patriotic Songs of America: Hymns of America’s Civic Religion
Masako Masuda(Australian Embassy in Tokyo)

㸯㸬 Introduction
America is blessed with many patriotic songs, far more than many other countries. Whatis the historical signicance of these songs and how were they created? Do they share special“American” qualities? What role do they play? These are questions this paper seeks to explore.
This paper first studies the concept of America’s civic religion and its relationship withpatriotic songs in Section 2. America’s civic religion is dened as the American mythology thattranscends regular religion, and the important position of patriotic songs within the frameworkof America’s civic religion is established. Section 3 consists of an analysis of four special patriotic
songs. First, for each song, circumstances of its making and the creed of America’s civic religion
contained within are examined. Then, a comparative analysis of all four songs shows America’s
historical changes that are found in the progression of these songs. In Section 4, the role andcontributions of these patriotic songs in the American society are discussed. America’s racial
diversity and inux of immigrants prove to be of particular relevance in this analysis.
The paper concludes with Section 5, which includes a short discussion of future perspectives.
As American society continues to evolve, how will it affect patriotic songs and America’s civic
religion?
㸰㸬America’s Civic Religion
㸰㸬America’s
ࠉReligion
ࠉReligion in America
Religion holds an important place in the lives of people in the United States. According
to Gallup’s survey in 2007, 86.0% of American people believe in the existence of God. Upontaking ofce, every American President has taken oath on the Bible and nished the oathwith the sentence “help me God.” Witnesses on the stand during Congressional hearings or
court trials also take oath in the same manner. America is a religious country.
At the same time, ethnic diversity within the American society has been increasing
consistently. Ethnic diversity leads to religious diversity. In 2003, Christians accounted for
79.6% of America’s total population, showing a gradual decline from 86.2% in 1990.
Which ‘God’, then, do American people have in mind when they ask for God’s blessing on
America? It may not always be the Christian God, despite the presence of a Christian Bible inthe ceremony. The common ‘God’ in the American civil life appears to transcend the God ofany specic religion and represent a religion peculiar to Americans, that is to say, America’s
civic religion, “where faith and patriotism converge.”1ࠉAmerica’s civic religion
ࠉAmerica’s
According to Robert Bellah, civic religion is “the expression of a public religious dimension,

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in which sacred ideas about the nation are articulated through a set of beliefs, symbols, andrituals.”2 America’s civic religion is rmly rooted in the history of the country’s founding. It isa myth of a new continent where the Pilgrim Fathers signed a contract before landing topromise to live a new life as free people under fair law and thereby marked the beginning ofAmerican Democracy. It is a myth of a new country which put forth its creed in the
Declaration of Independence. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, American people
fought the Independence War to “create a new country.”3 This country was to be founded not
on a common race, a common history, or even a common religion. Rather, the new nation was
to stand on a common ideology expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Since that beginning, “a set of ideals and myths pervading [our] national consciousness
that has been growing for two centuries”4 has formed the core of America’s civic religion
that binds all Americans, both old and new to the country. Scheurer articulated this myth
succinctly as below:“America is a vast, rugged, and plentiful land, whose destiny is provincially guided by thehand of God, and where, because of the noble sacrifices of pilgrims and patriots in thecause of liberty and freedom, we enjoy unlimited opportunity, equality and freedom.”5
The Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and BenjaminFranklin, became the heroes to be worshipped in the American mythology. Scenes from the
Independence War such as the battle of Concord-Lexington, crossing of the Delaware River,and winter camp in Valley Forge became the mythological stories to be remembered throughgenerations. The “Bible” of America’s civic religion originated from the Declaration of
Independence and added such iconic documents as President George Washington’s farewell
address (1796) and President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863) to its repository.
Unlike traditional religions like Christianity whose Bible is xed, America’s civic religion is aliving evolving mythology.
ࠉPatrioticࠉPatriotic songs and America’s civic religion
Patriotic songs form an important component of this tradition as hymns of America’s civic
religion. Their effective role is supported by three factors. First, music can have a profoundinfluence on the emotional state of people. The right combination of lyrics and melody canevoke a sense of enjoyment and pride. More importantly, unlike speeches and writings, music
can appeal to people of all ages, all educational backgrounds, and all intellectual levels,
thereby uniting people of great diversity.
Second, patriotic songs provide an opportunity for people to join in singing together,
thereby enabling them to become active participants rather than passive observers. Such
direct participation can breed a sense of belonging and comradeship.
Third, when tied to symbols such as the national ag or particular events such as patriotic

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parades or ceremonies, music makes the memory more vivid and long-lasting. The connection
will serve to evoke the memory when the same music is heard at a different place or under adifferent occasion.
Thus, patriotic songs which encompass the emotional power of music act as a powerful toolof America’s civic religion to inspire a common national consciousness and bind the nation
together in times of joy and in times of sorrow over generations. They form the thread thatweaves through the history of the country among diverse people and generations and thereby
perpetuate the American myth.
㸱㸬Analysis
㸱㸬
Analysis of four special patriotic songs
ࠉTheࠉ
The making
Among numerous American patriotic songs, four songs are widely recognized to havespecial status. They are “The Star Spangled Banner,” “America” (also known as “MyCountry ’Tis of Thee”), “America the Beautiful,” and “God Bless America.”6 “The Star
Spangled Banner” is the ofcial national anthem of the United States. The other three songs
are often termed the unofcial national anthems and are just as well known and beloved
among American people. A review of the making of these four songs follows. See Appendix forthe lyrics of these songs.
ࠉ“Theࠉ
“The Star Spangled Banner”
The country’s national anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott
Key, a lawyer and poet from Maryland, in 1814 during the War of 1812. On the night ofSeptember 13, 1814, Key and two other men were detained on a British battleship during the
British attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore. At daybreak, uncertain of the outcome of theprevious night’s ghting, Key was overjoyed to nd that the American ag he had seen thenight before was still ying over the Fort. Proudly, he immediately started writing the poem,
which he later nished on September 16 in his room. It was then distributed to public as ahandbill two days later.
The poem was set to one of the popular tunes at the time, “To Anacreon in Heaven,”
published in London around 1779-1780 and written for a British drinking club. The
anonymous composer is believed to be a group of club members led by John Stafford Smith. It
is ironic that a poem written in deance against the British attack should be set to a British
tune. President Woodrow Wilson ordered the song to be designated the national anthem in
1916, followed by an act of Congress on March 3, 1931.
ࠉ“America/Myࠉ
“America/My Country ’Tis of Thee”“America” or “My Country ’Tis of Thee” was written by Reverend Samuel F. Smith in
Boston in 1832. Reverend Smith was from Boston and at the time studying at a theology
school. Reverend Smith found the tune of “God Save the King” in a collection of German

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music books he received from a friend. As he liked the patriotic feeling of the tune, he worked
to set words to the tune to praise his own country.
The tune “God Save the King,” however, was not new at the time. It had been heard in
America even before 1776 and appropriated for many patriotic songs, including “God Save thePresident” and “God Save George Washington.”
The song was rst sung at a children’s Sunday school celebration of independence on July4, 1832 at the Park Street Church in Boston, a historic church where gunpowder was stored
during the War of 1812. The song was published in the following year 1833.
ࠉ“Americaࠉ
“America the Beautiful”“America the Beautiful” was written by Katherine Lee Bates, a poet and a professor ofEnglish literature at Wellesley College, an elite women’s school located outside Boston. Ms
Bates, who was from Massachusetts, took a trip west to Colorado in 1893 to teach at asummer school. It was during this visit that she climbed to the top of Pike’s Peak, about 10
miles west of Colorado Springs, and looked out to discover the breath-taking scenery of her
country. She was inspired by the grandness and goodness of the land and wrote the poem, also
incorporating the sceneries she had seen on her train ride across the Continent. The poem
appeared two years later in 1895 in the Church periodical Congregationalist Newspaper witha title “America” to commemorate the Fourth of July Independence Day.
The poem was not originally meant to be a song but was later set to a popular tune. The
tune is most closely associated with “Materna” by Samuel Augustus Ward, a church organist
and choirmaster from New Jersey. He composed “Materna” from an old hymn, “O Mother
Dear, Jerusalem,” upon inspiration on a ferryboat ride to return home from Coney Island to
New York City on a summer day in 1882.
Ward’s music combined with the Bates poem was first published in 1910 and titled“America the Beautiful.” The song enjoyed enormous popularity. Its presence as a strong
challenger even “caused a sudden rush of political activity to give ofcial national anthem
status to ‘The Star Spangled Banner’”7 and led President Woodrow Wilson to declare it anofcial national anthem in 1916. There have been occasional efforts since then to give
“America the Beautiful” an ofcial legal status as a national hymn or even a national anthem,though these efforts have not met success to this day.
ࠉ“Godࠉ
“God Bless America”
Unlike the other three songs already discussed, which were set to existing tunes, “God
Bless America” was written and composed by the same person, Irving Berlin, as a cohesive
creation. Irving Berlin was a Jewish immigrant who came to America from Russia at the ageof ve and grew up poor in New York City. After working a variety of jobs, he entered themusic scene and eventually became a successful song master in New York’s Tin Pan Alley, thebirthplace of American musical theater.

3DWULRWLF6RQJVRI$PHULFD“God Bless America” originated directly from Berlin’s involvement with the musicaltheater, as he rst conceived of this song as part of his then popular Ziegfeld-style revue in1918. He nished the song but decided to set it aside, as he felt that its solemn tone did not t
the tenor of the revue. Then in the fall of 1938, immediately after the Munich Conference that
condoned the German aggression, singer Kate Smith approached Berlin with grave concern
for war and asked him to write a song to “wake up” America. With his Jewish heritage, Berlin
was fearful of Nazi advance himself and agreed to write a peace song in response. He
remembered his “God Bless America” from 20 years ago and made certain alterations to theoriginal version.
The song was introduced by Kate Smith during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day,
1938. It was met with great popularity immediately and saw a huge demand in its sheetmusic. It was so successful that Berlin put together a God Bless America Fund to support Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts.
ࠉCreedࠉCreed of American civic religion
The important creeds that build the American myth are condensed in all four of theseofficial and unofficial national anthems. To abstract from Scheurer’s definition discussed in
section 2.28, these creeds include landscape (vast, rugged, and plentiful land), religion(destiny is provincially guided by the hand of God), history (sacrifices of pilgrims andpatriots), and ideology which includes concepts such as liberty (the cause of liberty andfreedom), democracy (enjoy unlimited opportunity, equality and freedom), andhomeland/community (we).
ࠉLandscapeࠉ
LandscapeAmerican landscape that expands over a large undeveloped continent has had an
important inuence on the making of the American myth in terms of both tangible benetand intangible potential. In the former sense, the “vast, rugged, and plentiful land”9 provides
physical beauty and natural resources. In the latter sense, the land holds unlimited promiseand opportunity to those willing to strive to grasp it. Thus, the American landscape has
nurtured the basis of the country’s character such as frontier spirit, pursuit of American
dream, and belief in equal opportunity. Furthermore, the added notion of the land as a fertile
virgin land promised to the American people by Providence leads to the belief in America as
the country chosen by God to build a new country and spread its ideology.
Among the four songs under review, “The Star Spangled Banner” focuses on a specificincident and does not touch upon the natural landscape. Landscape comes through mostprominently in “America the Beautiful.” The song was inspired by the scenery seen from the
top of Pikes Peak, and its rst verse consists entirely of description and praise of the beauty of
the natural landscape of the West.

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O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
In “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee,” the reference to the landscape is somewhat more
complex. The author relates to the landscape rst as an object of love in the second verse, as
in “I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills.” Then in the third verse, landscape
becomes a medium for the freedom’s song, as the author implores to “[L]et music swell thebreeze and ring from all the trees sweet freedom’s song.” Thus landscape combines not onlywith the love for the country but also with the country’s most treasured ideology of freedom.
In “God Bless America,” natural landscape is effectively employed to give a visualdenition of the country to be blessed. With the phrase “[F]rom the mountains, to the prairies,
to the oceans white with foam,” the author evokes the physical expanse of the country, its
beauty and variety, as well as the boundaries that dene the country. The choice of mountains,prairies, and oceans which all evoke an image of grand size indicates the grandeur of thecountry as well as the West and the frontier spirit.
ࠉReligionࠉ
Religion
Religion, or trust in Providence’s blessing, forms the backbone of American people’s belief
in their country’s destiny and the goodness of their action. America as a special country
blessed by God and entrusted with a special mission to promote and defend liberty anddemocracy has remained at the core of American action throughout its history. This “God” isnot necessarily a Christian God, as discussed in Section 2. However, the Christian inuence
was quite strong especially during the country’s formative years and up to the end of the 19th
century when the population consisted mostly of Christians.
In “The Star Spangled Banner,” little religious element is found. However, in the otherthree songs, the religious inuence appears prominently in its making, words, and music. In
the case of “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee,” it was written by a reverend and first
performed at a church by a church choir. In the fourth verse, which is its last, the wording
diverges away from the country to God, and the song in effect becomes a hymn. In this verse,
we sing to “Our father’s God, to Thee” and God is called “Author of Liberty,” indicating God isthe creator of America which is “sweet land of liberty.” The song goes on to ask for “freedom’s
holy light” and protection by “Thy might,” and ends with “Great God, our King.” A song whichstarts as an ode to “my country” culminates as a prayer for God’s protection for this precious
country.
The tune of “America the Beautiful” originated from an old hymn and was composed by achurch organist and choirmaster. The song retains the religious overtone in its tune. In its
lyrics, the author repeats that “God shed His grace on Thee, and crown thy good with

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

brotherhood.” In other words, it is God’s blessing that makes the beautiful land of America
what it is. Effectively, God becomes an integral part of American landscape. The choice ofcolor “purple” to describe “purple mountain majesties” also implies a connection to God, as
purple is considered a sacred color.
The religious inuence in “God Bless America” is clear not only in its title but also in its
lyrics. The phrase “God bless America” is repeated throughout the song, and the solemn tune
resembles a hymn. Together, they make the song a musical prayer calling to God for protection.
In fact, the song’s rst verse is composed entirely of prayer.
God bless America, land that I loveStand beside her, and guide her,Thru the night with a light from aboveࠉHistoryࠉ
History
History offers shared experiences and common understanding of the foundation on which
the present has been built. Important historical events and developments are integral
components of the American myth and enrich and strengthen the impact of the myth byadding vivid images and concrete stories. These images become common symbols and stories
become shared legends to be remembered.
History represents an important theme in all four songs under study. “The Star
Spangled Banner” highlights a specic historical event, an attack on Fort McHenry during
the War of 1812. It has the explicit wording which describes the attack, which was a “perilous
ght” with “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air.” The pride in withstanding suchan attack is also explicitly expressed as “Gave proof through the night that our ag was still
there” and “that star spangled banner yet wave.” A specic reference to the War of 1812 does
not appear, but the circumstances of the song’s making are well-known so that the song carries
with it the proud memories of the Fort McHenry defense.
In “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee,” the author describes America as “Land where myfathers died, Land of the pilgrims’ pride,” thereby remembering the country’s earlier settlers.
While the “pilgrims’ pride” brings forth the symbolic origin of the country’s history and what it
stands for, death of “fathers” implies the long history that followed in which generations
fought to develop and defend the country. This juxtaposition has an effect of reaching beyond
the specic symbol (pilgrims) to the general population which includes all American people(fathers). In addition, the song’s phrase “let freedom ring” recalls one of America’s mostsignicant historical symbols, the Liberty Bell. By this implicit reference to the Liberty Bell,the author takes the audience back to the era of the Founding Fathers and emphasizes thecontinuity of the country’s history and tradition.
The historical reference in “America the Beautiful” is more subtle. This is a song written
by a New England intellectual admiring the beauty of the Western scenery. As such, the song

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

praises America’s westward expansion, which gave the country a vast beautiful land “fromsea to shining sea,” which means from the Atlantic Ocean across the continent to the Pacic
Ocean. It is the timing of the poem in the 1890s when the Western frontier had been closedthat makes such a phrase possible. The song therefore pays tribute to those pioneering
settlers who cultivated and conquered the Western frontier. This is an important notion, as it
feeds into the philosophy of Manifest Destiny.
In addition, “America the Beautiful” is the only song among the four songs that refers to
the country’s on-going industrialization and urbanization. In contrast to the song’s rst verse
which focuses on the natural beauty of the West, the fourth verse sings of the gleam of“alabaster cities undimmed by human tears.” Again, timing is critical. During the 1890s,
America was experiencing a huge inux of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe
with different languages and customs in the midst of rapid industrialization and urbanization,bringing about political and social unrest.
Historical reference in “God Bless America” is even more subtle. It refers to theimpending crisis as “the night”, but it is only with the knowledge of the making of the songthat its relation with the Munich Conference can be understood.
ࠉIdeologyࠉ
Ideology
Ideology represents the founding principles of the United States. These are: liberty andjustice, democracy, and homeland/community. The most important principle is liberty andjustice as embodied in the Pledge of Allegiance.10 Pilgrims came in search of a new homeland
where liberty, justice, and equality are guaranteed, and generations have fought in the nameof defending these principles. These principles form the core creed of the American myth.
Reference to liberty appears most directly in “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee”. It calls
the country “Sweet land of liberty” and wishes to “let freedom ring” everywhere. In the lastverse, the song calls God “Author of Liberty.” As God is the creator of universe and therefore
America, the Liberty authored by God can refer to America itself. Spelled with a capital L
unlike “liberty” in “Sweet land of liberty,” the phrase signies that America the country itself
is merged with the concept of Liberty. Thus, the song which starts as an ode to America
transforms to an ode to liberty and freedom.
In “The Star Spangled Banner,” America is called “the land of the free.” It represents astory of seeing the star spangled banner waving “O’er the land of the free.” The banner is asymbol of liberty and the song culminates in the pride in defending liberty. It is worth notingthat some version of “God Bless America” incorporates “the land of the free” instead of “theland that I love.”
Specic reference to liberty does not appear in “America the Beautiful” or in “God Bless
America”. However, in “America the Beautiful,” the word “brotherhood” appears in every
verse in the finale. The repetition of the phrase “And crown thy good with brotherhood”
emphasizes the equality among the country’s citizens. This implies another important

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principle of American ideology, namely democracy. According to this phrase, America’s
democracy is blessed by God and should spread “From sea to shining sea!”
The principle of homeland and community appears most prominently in “God Bless
America” which borrows the phrase “home sweet home” directly from the title of a well-known
American song beloved since the1820s. “Home” also appears in “The Star Spangled Banner”
as “home of the brave.” Significantly, both these songs concern a crisis that threatens thehomeland and the need to defend it. Specic reference to homeland is absent from the morepeaceful “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful.”ࠉAmerica’sࠉAmerica’s Historical Development through four special patriotic songs
Comparison of these four patriotic songs sheds light on changes that took place inAmerica between the creation of “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1814 and the creation of “God
Bless America” in 1938. These changes can be analyzed according to ve themes.
 Expansion of the American myth beyond Christianity
The first theme is the expansion of the American myth beyond Christianity. The influenceof Christianity in patriotic songs gradually diluted during this period. In contrast to “America/
My Country ’Tis of Thee” which was composed by a reverend and rst performed in a church,or “America” whose poem was published in a church circular and whose tune was composed bya church organist based on an old hymn, circumstances surrounding the making of “God Bless
America” has little to do with Christianity. The song was created by a Jewish song master of asecular musical theater and broadcast over the radio by a popular singer. The reference to
God and the hymnal tone may indicate remnants of Christian sentiments but also can beinterpreted as a prayer to God of civic religion.
 Decline of British inuence and rise of American culture
The second theme is the decline of British influence and the rise of American
popular culture. This can be clearly shown by an analysis of the progression of the tunes ofthese four patriotic songs.
Three of the four songs were set to popular tunes already existing at the time of thewriting of lyrics. The origins of these popular tunes show an interesting progressive pattern,
namely, a gradual “Americanization” of the chosen tunes. First, “The Star Spangled Banner”
was set to “Anacreon In Heaven,” a British song written for a drinking club. Second, almost
twenty years later, “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee” was set to another more solemn British
tune “God Save the King.” Unlike the case of “To Anacreon In Heaven,” “God Save the King” hadalready been “Americanized” as it had been used since colonial times as melodies for American
patriotic songs. Third, “America the Beautiful” was set to an existing popular tune “Materna”
composed by an American.
The culmination of this process occurred with “God Bless America.” Unlike the other three,0$68'$0DVDNR

this song was set to a new original tune composed by an American song master specically forthis purpose. It even comes from a uniquely American popular music tradition ofZiegfeld-style revue of an American music theater.
 Expansion of territory and greater international presence
The third theme is the expansion of American territory and the country’s rise from a
new nation to an international power. Expansion of territory can be detected by “America
the Beautiful” which conrms the nation’s new boundary which spans the entire continent.
This view to the West forms a stark contrast with the defense of a fort in Maryland, one of theoriginal colonies, described in “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The country’s increasing involvement in world affairs can be detected by comparison of theconicts associated with “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America”. The defenseof a Maryland fort against America’s former mother country can be seen as a local conflict
which is a remnant of the past colonial relationship. However, the conict considered in “God
Bless America” stems from Europe, across the ocean, and involves several major powers. For
America to have any bearing on this conflict, it signifies that the country has grown in its
stature and power internationally.
 Increasing diversity of population and popularization of culture
The fourth theme is the increasing diversity of the American population andpopularization of culture that accompanied such diversity. The authors of the first threesongs belonged to the elite group of the East Coast establishment. Key was a lawyer and poetfrom Maryland, Smith was a reverend from Boston, and Bates was a poet and professor from
Massachusetts. They were all white, Christian, privileged and well-educated. In contrast,
Berlin was a Jewish immigrant who grew up poor without higher education. That a person ofhis position can create a patriotic song attests to the fact that song writing had transformed
from the engagement of the elite to the popular culture of the ordinary.
 Industrialization and technological advanceThe fifth theme is the progress of industrialization and advancement of technology. This
aspect is shown in the manner of distribution of these patriotic songs. “The Star Spangled
Banner” was distributed manually as handbills to those within physical reach. “America/My
Country ’Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful” were printed in a Church publication andcirculated widely but within the Church community. “God Bless America” was aired over aradio broadcast throughout the country and followed by sale of sheet music everywhere.
㸲㸬Contributions㸲㸬Contributions of patriotic songs
First and above all, patriotic songs help dene the American identity. As America is a

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country founded on common ideology, embracement of America civic religion plays animportant role in the making of an American. Patriotic songs can effectively convey thisAmerican identity in public gatherings such as ceremonies and parades.
Second, patriotic songs serve as an integral element of America’s civic education to nurture
good American citizens. Civic education of the young generation was especially importantin light of inuxes of immigrants to the country. Up until the latter part of the 20th century,
schools were often looked to for building allegiance to the ag and cultivating a loyal citizenry.11
Especially in the face of a huge tide of immigration between the late 19th century andthe early 20th century, one of the most important missions of public schools was to “Americanize”
these immigrant children. Thus, schools taught the heroes and legends of the American myth,
led the pledge to the ag, and sang the hymns of America civic religion.
Third, patriotic songs provide symbols of progress of the American dream. This was thecase when Martin Luther King cited “America/My Country ’Tis of Thee” in his famous speech “I
have a dream” in 1963. In this speech, he spoke of the day when “let freedom ring” becomestrue not only in the states of New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, andCalifornia, where much progress had already been made in civil rights of African Americans
but also in the Southern states of Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, where discrimination
remained prevalent. The degree to which the underprivileged embrace the American civic
religion’s ideology expressed in patriotic songs can be considered as the measure of America’s
social progress.
Finally, patriotic songs rally people in times of national crisis. This is most clearly seen
during war and was witnessed during the aftermath of the tragedy of 911 in 2001.
㸳㸬Conclusion
㸳㸬Conclusion
Patriotic songs abound in many countries around the world, as national pride is universal.
However, there seems to be a particular proliferation of such songs in America. Not only are
there many more of them in numbers but they are also played on many more occasions.
Patriotic songs represent a powerful component of America’s civic religion that holds
together its heterogeneous society composed of a variety of immigrant groups with diverse
heritage and culture. As embodiment of the creed of America’s myth, with its emotional
appeal, patriotic songs help serve the purpose of defining the American identity, through“Americanizing” new immigrants and retaining allegiance of old immigrants and theirdescendants. In a country where every citizen has dual roots, of the ancestral land and of the
new home America, national myth, symbols, and songs take on a critical role in uniting theentire population together.
As diversity continues to progress in America, its civic religion will face a new challenge toexpand further to permeate through a greater variety of people. This is particularly
important in light of the expectation that white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant people, who were theoriginal creators of the American myth, will lose their majority status in the country in not0$68'$0DVDNR

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too distant future. Efforts to ensure further extension of the reach of America civic
religion have already begun. For example, at the memorial services held immediately after
the 911 tragedy in a church in Washington, DC, sermons were given by priests of Christianity,
Judaism, and Islam. Another example was creation of “The Star Spangled Banner” inSpanish to cater to the increasing Hispanic population. Though this development was not
welcome at the time by the general population and the song did not establish rm standing, it
does give an indication of what may lie ahead.
It appears certain that patriotic songs will continue to hold an important place inAmerican civic life. What remains to be seen is whether patriotic songs and the American
myth will remain intact and extend their reach or certain alterations will be made toaccommodate the increasingly diverse population who may not fully accept the existing civic
religion on its face value.
Footnotes
1䢢 Meizel (2006) p.497.

2

Ibid.

3

Saruya (1991), p.57

4

See Edwords (1987)

5

Scheurer (1991) p.5

6

See Studwell (1993)

7

Ibid., p.58

8Scheurer (1991) p.5

9

Ibid.

10

The text of the Pledge of Allegiance is as follows: “I pledge my allegiance to the ag of theUnited States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”11

Manzo (2001)

3DWULRWLF6RQJVRI$PHULFDAppendix
The Star Spangled Banner

America – My Country ’Tis of TheeOh, say can you see,

My country, ’Tis of Thee,

By the dawn’s early light

Sweet land of liberty,

What so proudly we hailed

Of Thee I sing;

At the twilight’s last gleaming?

Land where my fathers died,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars,

Land of the pilgrims’ pride,

through the perilous ght.

From every mountainside,

O’er the ramparts we watched

Let freedom ring.

Were so gallantly streaming?
My native country, thee,
And the rockets’ red glare,

Land of the noble free,the bombs bursting in air,Thy name I love;

Gave proof through the night that

I love thy rocks and rills,

our ag was still there.

Thy woods and templed hills;

Oh, say does that star-spangled

My heart with rapture thrills,

banner yet wave.

Like that above.

O’er the land of the free
And the home of the brave?

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;Let rocks their silence break,The sound prolong.
Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;Long may our land be brightWith freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

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America the Beautiful

O beautiful, for patriot dreamThat sees beyond the years

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

Thine alabaster cities gleam

For amber waves of grain,

Undimmed by human tears!

For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on Thee,

America! America!

And crown thy good with brotherhood

God shed His grace on Thee,

From sea to shining sea!

And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful, for pilgrims’ feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A throughfare for freedom beat

God Bless America

Across the wilderness!
God bless America,
America! America!

Land that I love.

God shed His grace on Thee,

Stand beside her,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

And guide her,

From sea to shining sea!

Thru the night with a light from above.

O beautiful, for heroes proved

From the mountains,

In liberating strife,

To the prairies,

Who more than self their country loved

To the oceans white with foam.

And mercy more than life!

God bless America,
My home, sweet home,

America! America!
God shed His grace on Thee,God bless America,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

My home, sweet home.

From sea to shining sea!

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Reference
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Websitehttp://www.worldfolksong.com