19669 - Voices of Change: Protest Songs in American History

Course Overview

From the colonial period, even before the United States was begun, people wrote and sang songs to express complaints, satirize those in power and confront injustice, economic exploitation and war. Early songs mocked the British, while later ones protested our own government’s wars. The abolitionist movement spawned powerful songs, as did the struggle for women’s right to vote. From early on, the labor movement moved workers to sing on the picket line and in union halls. In the early 20th century, there were a few anti-war songs. However, it was the folk revolution of the 1960’s and 1970’s that produced a wave of anti-war and other songs of protest. Even in the 21st century, anti-war songs and other politically oriented protest songs gained traction and people still sing them at rallies and marches. Students will be able to listen to a number of these songs within their historical context. We may sing a few of them ourselves, because it is hard to let a good Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or John Prine tune go unsung.