Canton High School - Echo Yearbook (Canton, MA)

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20 THE ECHO g song, The Star Spangled Ban- ner, is of English origin and used to be a drinking song. But the Ameri- cans, always in search for some- thing new, became a little tired of English music, which they had adopt- ed, and tried with all their might to produce something of their own. They did succeed somewhat and produced a few songs such as Dixie, to the strains of which all the emotional feeling of the South is aroused, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, of which the North is very proud. We must in conclusion say, that the heart story of our great wars, especially the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, is to be found in the patriotic songs of those periods. At the present time, pure folk music tends to go out of use among the people, as popular music takes its place. Folk music now is taught in the public schools, so that the present generation may learn to appreciate it. The radio also tries to revive pure folk music through different methods, but people nowadays care for popular music, as it changes very often. Of course there are reasons for this. America is very much handicapped in the production of folk music, both by its business activity and by the fact that it is a gathering of many nations, which are not yet amalgamat- ed into a distinct type. Our country is too large to have a common folk song, and being represented by many nationalties, its folk music is sectional rather than national. The South is the only section that has developed a folk song, distinctly different from the music of other nations, as it pos- sesses characteristic surroundings, and a race of natural singers in its colored population. As to the North and East, we have an entirely dif- ferent story. They are both too busy in their commercial activities to pro- duce folk music. As to the West, we can only say that as yet it has not developed a singer who can picture ranch life in beautiful tones. I have attempted to trace American folk music step by step to give some idea of how it was produced and un- der what circumstances it developed. We have seen that folk music is the spontaneous expression of a natural musical instinct of the human race. The origin of American folk music is to be found in the tunes of the Ameri- can Indian. The development, as I have shown, has been largely brought about through plantation life and through the influence of European na- tions. I have also considered pa- triotic music as an important factor of our folk music, as was especially shown during tha early wars of our national life. We, as citizens of Ameri- ca, being still pioneers in the iield of folk music in comparison to other nations, should therefore further the education of folk music with all pos- sible means, so that it may be handed down from generation to generation! N. Rasetzki, '31. JOURNALISIVI IN AMERICAN HISTORY PUBLICK OCCURENICES, the precursor of the modern newspaper in this country, was undertaken by Benjamin Harris in 1690, to cure or to charm the spirit of lying, so preva- lent in the New England Colonies. At least, such was the assertion made in the first and only issue of the sheet, which the government prompt- ly suppressed. Journalism lay dormant during the short period between the demise of the lamented PUBLICK OCCUR- EN CES and the birth of the BOS- TON NEWS LETTER, the first real newspaper in America, which ap- peared in 1704. To it belongs the hon- or of employing the first reporter, fwho was also editor, copy reader, and printer.J This gentleman's first assignment was to cover a hanging of six pirates, which he did very creditably and faithfully, saying little, to be sure, of the last moments of the buccaneers, but giving in full the lengthy two column prayer of the clergyman, which, after all, was what his public most desired. However, the newspapers of colo- nial days bore little resemblance to the great metropolitan dailies of our time. They were more like a high school paper. In their four small pages would be found a few para- 4Continued on page 211

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THE ECHO 19 tation life enters into the development of our folk music, modulating and im- proving the old Indian tunes, thereby handing down to us today a folk music which is the most beautiful of its kind, and which cannot be compared with any other folk music in the whole world. In tracing the development, we na- turally have to begin with the In- dian music, whence most of our folk music comes. There were, of course, many different tribes and each one had its own characteristics. Their tunes were monotonous and plain, but very beautiful. Indian music embod- ies seven different kinds of songs from which our present folk songs are de- rived: war songs, religious songs, mys- tery songs, historical songs, mourn- ing songs, love songs, and finally con- vivial or social songs. Some of these were accompanied by dancing. As no two Indian tribes had the same characteristics, we cannot say that each expressed all the seven different kinds of folk music. We can, how- ever, readily see that no love tunes came from the Iroquois, because of their warlike natures. The beautiful Indian music from which our folk music is mostly derived has been, we are sorry to say, quite neglected, but distinguished American composers, such as Charles Cadman, A. Farrell, and Victor Herbert have done their best to revive it. Now let us go on to plantation life and see what it has contributed to the development of our topic. Although the origin of the folk song came from Indian life, it developed around the plantations. The negroes, natural- born singers, helped considerably in the development of folk music. As they toiled in the fields under the boiling sun, they expressed their sor- row and happiness in their songs. One finds much melody and emotion in negro tunes and feels the sentimental- itiz that is in every folk song. Every body admits that the plantation song of the slaves is the true folk song of the United States. Who has developed these beautiful plantation songs and made them the emblem of our coun- try 'K It is Stephen Foster, the Ameri- can folk song genius, who has written over one hundred sixty well-known American folk songs, including such beautiful tunes as Swanee River, Nellie Gray, Old Folks at Home, Qld Black Joe, and many other well- known folk tunes. Melodies such as these will endure through the centur- ies and will encourage others to try to improve our American folk music. We can also see in these tunes native American traits, developing into cer- tain manners, morals, and tastes. But along with the influence of Indian and Plantation life comes a great deal of influence from the Old orld. Settlers from 01d France came to Canada and later travelled down the Mississippi river to Louisi- ana, giving us what we have termed the Creole Song. The Spaniards settling in California, New Mexico, and Florida have also contributed to our folk music. In the Northwest the Germans and Scandinavians gave con- tributions of their own national life, which have blended with the native elements of our folk music. Where- ever foreign races have settled, they have brought new elements, and all these have had their part in develop- ing what we know as the American folk music. Now we turn to another classifi- cation of national folk music that we may term patriotic. Every nation ex- periences wars and every war has a decided effect on music, especially folk music. It is then that a nation be- comes very patriotic, and that patriot- ism is expressed to the utmost in its folk music. This form of our national music was lacking in the nineteenth century. Although we had Stephen Foster's songs, they were not war songs, and we were in need of com- posers for patriotic songs. The Ameri- cans, therefore, adopted English tunes for their patriotic music, and during the Revolutionary War, when only war songs were sung, the soldiers made up the words to these adopted tunes. The nation at this time was fond of English tunes and for a time the beautiful plantation songs were displaced because they were not spirit- ed enough for them. Une of the ear- liest patriotic songs, of which we have recorded, was thc Liberty Songf c'on'1posed during the llevolu- tionary War. Our own patriotic Qc if if ffiUlllilll.,lK'fi on page Zlflj

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THE ECHO 21 graphs of stale news -brought by the latest packet from London, a letter from a citizen who was traveling abroad, a protest against some meas- ure of local misgovernment, and sun- dry advertisements for the sale of Indian bitters or the recovery of a stray horse or a runaway slave. The colonial papers were crude and had only a small circulation, for ex- ample, only three hundred copies of the NEWS LETTER were printed each week, since all work must be done by hand. There was little news in the papers, because the editors as- sumed that everyone knew what was going on in the local community and relied upon foreign exchanges and private letters for information about outside affairs. Then too, early editors placed no premium upon accuracy, nor did they go out of their way to verify re- ports. By the time the new Repub- lic had its third President, Jefferson is said to have remarked that he never believed anything he read in the pa- per except the advertisements. The reason for this uncertainty is not hard to find. In the days of the founder of Democracy, newspapers were, with apologies to Benjamin Franklin, universal instructors in all the arts and sciences. The adver- tisements were so few in number and so small in size that they afforded no permanent hiding place for the spirit of lying . When, however, the paper began to give more in detail, not only the gossip of the homes but also of the stores, Beelzebub, and all the members of his family moved to the more commodious quarters in the advertising section, where he still re- sides. In colonial times the influence of these small newspapers was great. They formed the only reading matter of the people, with the exception of the Bible, and were passed from hand to hand, memorized, and quoted by thousands. The sayings of Benjamin Franklin, published in his Poor Richard's Almanac, survive to the present day as popular proverbs. Because ol' this influence among the common people, the colonial gov- ernors objected to newspapers saying anything about political matters. In 1735, the tyrannical royal governor of New York removed the chief jus- tice of the colony from office for per- sonal reasons. Peter Zenger, who edited a weekly newspaper, criticized this action of the governor, declaring that it threatened slavery to the peo- ple. Zenger was prosecuted for libel and the new chief justice, a crony of the governor, presided at the trial and was plainly determined on punishing Zenger severely. Lawyers hired to defend Zenger lost their licenses, while the judge tried to limit the jury to deciding only whether Zenger was responsible for the publication, fa matter not deniedb, reserving to him- self the decision as to how far the words were punishable. This was an evil custom of English courts in such cases to a much later period. The aged Andrew Hamilton, one of the foremost lawyers in the colo- nies, journeyed from Philadelphia to New York to offer his services in Zenger's behalf, and in his address to the jury argued convincingly that public criticism is a necessary safe- guard for free government, and that the jury must have the right to ac- quit Zenger if it found that his charges were true. Men who injure and oppress the people, said the law- yer bluntly, Hprovoke them to cry out and complain, and then make that very complaint the foundation for new persecution. This cause is not the cause of a poor printer alone, nor of New York alone, but of every free man in America. He called upon the jury to guard the liberty to which Nature and the laws of this country have given us the rightf-the liberty of ex- posing and opposing arbitrary power, in these parts of the world at least, by speaking and writing the truth. A free people are not obliged by any law to support a governor who goes about to destroy a province. The Declaration of Independence was not signed until forty-one years later, but the American newspaper declared itself free when the jury de- clared Peter Zenger not guilty of criminal libel. The victory for free speech was celebrated joyously throughout the colonies. A later his- torian called this trial the morning fflontinua-rl on page 223