[Dixielandjazz] Re: Battle Hymn & John Brown

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Pat and all,

You wrote:

>Not all murderers were abolitionists, neither were all abolitionists 
>murderers; but the John Brown whom Julia Howe elevated to sainthood with 
>her lyrics was indeed both a serial mass murderer and an abolitonist.

1. Julia Howe didn't elevate John Brown to Sainthood with her lyrics. The 
"John Brown's Body" mouldrin' in the grave lyrics were written by someone 
else. Julia rewrote the lyrics after hearing the earlier "John Brown" 
version. Her lyrics bear no connection to John Brown and are, instead, a 
monument to the noble efforts of the Union in the Civil War and to those 
efforts as a religious crusade.

2. Whether or not John Brown was a murderer lies (as is always the case) in 
the eyes of the beholder.

You wrote:

>He and his sons killed dozens of people, some entire families, in Kansas; 
>and was primary cause of the state being named "bleeding Kansas."  He was 
>captured at Harpers Ferry by a federal force led by captain Robert E. Lee, 
>who was still an officer in the U.S. Army at the time.   Brown's legal 
>defense tried to claim insanity, but he was found guilty and hanged.  I 
>believe he was indeed insane, but I'm glad they hanged him anyway.  He 
>needed hangin'.

Yet to others John Brown was a hero, champion and now, a martyr.

So what really was Brown? Murderer? Civil Rights Activist? Hero?

It's kind of like wars. The position that the antagonists are the "good" 
versus the "evil" has always been determined by the victor.

But as far as the hymn itself is concerned, it is a powerful musical 
statement and because of that it has been used in literally dozens of 
parodies on the lyrics (with the same melody) presenting the most banal of 
themes.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com