Moving West Songs (American History Through Folksong)

Rusty McNeil (Performer), Keith McNeil (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Label: WEM Records
• ASIN: 1878360108
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,805 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...entertaining interpretations of American history through folksong." -- American West

"...pleasant and informative renditions. The voices of these two singers blend well...the lyrics are clear." -- Choice

...entertaining interpretation of American history through folksong. -- American West, October, 1989

Product Description

This volume includes forty-four of the songs which Americans sang as their nation expanded westward across the continent during the period between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, placed in historic context by historical narration. Two stereo CD's with Notes on the Songs. Total Playing Time: 2 hours.

Territorial Expansion and Abolition: As the United States expanded into the old Northwest Territory, Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest, Americans built canals, cut forests, farmed the land, and trapped beaver. Their songs reflected their pride, fears and hopes, and described the dangers, the boredom, the discomforts and the loneliness of life on these new frontiers. Songs were effective tools for African Americans. Slaves spread the word of escape plans through "code" songs. Songs about the hardships of slavery helped recruit white support for abolition and the Underground Railroad.

Texas and the Mexican War: The lyric quality and rhythmic patterns of Mexican folk music reflect our Mexican heritage. Americans who settled in Texas sang of Texas Rangers and the struggle to make Texas a republic. During the Mexican War, soldiers sang of American General Zachary Taylor and Mexican General Santa Anna, of the 2,000 mile march of the Mormon Battalion, and of brutal treatment at the hands of their own officers.

Minstrel Shows and the California Gold Rush: Minstrel songs were 19th century America's most popular songs, and Stephen Foster was America's most popular songwriter. Miners carried minstrel tunes to the gold camps in California and wrote parodies which created a vivid picture of life among the forty-niners.

Immigrants from China, Ireland and Germany: The songs depict the prejudice against California's Chinese population in the 1850s and the suffering of the Irish, fleeing famine, as they migrated to a new, often hostile, home in America. The songs also reflect the defiance and spirit of the Germans who, after losing the fight for a free Germany, sought freedom in the United States.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Teachers: Please Review First, October 13, 2011

By 

mesadallas (Mesa, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Moving West Songs (American History Through Folksong) (Audio CD)

I teach an advanced second grade class.I bought this CD for use in my unit on westward expansionn. Most of the album is very good with narration that not only introduces the song but explains westward expansion in chronological order.

A large portion of this CD deals with the social prejudice of the 1800's. About 10 the songs I will not be able to play as the lyrics are extremely demeaning to mexicans,asians, Native Americans, Latter Day Saints, and Irish Americans. One of the songs also includes "hell" in the lyrics and part of the narration talks about prostitutes in mining camps so those also not be able to be played either. It is very true that the 1800's carried a lot of social bigotry and I have no doubt these are historically accurate songs of the times, but there are hundreds of songs from the 1800's that would have been much better choices for grade school students to cover this period of American history.

If you teach secondary students this CD could be a good resource depending upon your teaching objective, but if you are an elementary teacher looking for pioneer/westward expansion songs for grade school students, a large portion of this CD will not work for you. I am not a person who likes revitionist history or believes in whitewashing historical facts to be "politically correct" but trust me;- if you play this entire CD you will have offended parents flocking to your school in droves.

In all fairness, it may be that this CD was not intended for elementary students, however, the title and description are very misleading and I thought I was buying a CD that would cover basic events of Westward Expansion through the music of the the times- and that's what I was looking for. A more appropriate title would have been "Social Prejudice During the Westward Movement."