Goin Across the Mountain

In the Appalachians, there had never been large numbers of slaves, but there had been a large number of free Blacks. Some Whites rejected slavery on moral grounds, the Quakers and many Germans, also some Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians. Others rejected slavery for other reasons. There was a rivalry between the people of the mountains and the people of the lowlands, where the owners of large plantations were in possession not only of slaves but also political power. The plantation owners rejected, for example, a public school system and had their children educated by private tutors.

The poor mountaineers suffered from the system. Many of them supported the idea of free labor because free laborers and craftsmen could be pressured and forced to work for low wages by the existence of slaves. In Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky , many slaves were put to work in industry, which cost Whites jobs.

The Civil War divided the people of the Appalachians, but less in the moral question of slavery than in the question of national unity. Many people in the Appalachians felt closer emotional ties to the Federal Government than the power brokers of the South. The eastern part of Tennessee, for example, voted by a large majority against secession from the Union, 34, to From no other state did so many men serve in the Northern army than Tennessee.

The Civil War crisis heated up old conflicts between the people of the mountains and the lowlands. The people of the Appalachians were divided, town against town, county against county, family against family, often brother against brother. Maybe a third of the population strongly supported the Union. The war left behind a deep scar in Appalachian society. In the mountainous section of Virginia, 27 counties resisted secession and organized a new government.

In , West Virginia was admitted as a new, seperate state. It took that long, however, because the first two drafts of the new state constitution had not forbidden slavery. That is to say, the loyalty to the Federal Government was not based on opposition to slavery. In northern Alabama, eight to ten thousand supporters of the United States attempted to organize a new state. In the mountains of North Carolina, many men faced a conflict of conscience.

As mountain farmers, they had to work hard to survive. They had little in common with the big farmers who lived from the labor of slaves and there was precious little love lost. In the counties bordering Tennessee: An underground railway was organized, this time not with the intention of smuggling slaves north but young white men who were willing to fight for the North. The division in the society was to have serious effects during the postwar period.

After the end of the federally controlled Reconstruction, the old elites regained power. The rebellious mountain areas were neglected by the state governments. This facilitated the later exploitation of the Appalachians. The Civil War was an orgy of blood which saved the nation and shaped its future.

It was the first modern war with mass armies and mass death and in the end was directed against the civilian population. But this war produced songs, many songs. Irwin Silber estimates the number at about ten thousand. Columbia University Press, , p. Many are still known today: Another song survived in an altered form.

Music probably played a greater role in the Civil War than in any other war. Many regiments had their own band. At first, musicians received double-pay. So many bands were formed and they became so expensive that the War Department ordered them disbanded. Yet by the end of the war, fifty still survived.

Stuart made sure he was always accompanied by a fiddler and a banjo player. Singing was a popular way to pass the time in both armies. Many songs gained popularity in both halves of the country, some melodies receiving different lyrics in the North and the South. Songs were composed about battles, generals, bad food, about dying comrades, about mother and also about slavery. Among the most well-known composers were George F.

Root and Henry Clay Work. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is said to have inspired at least five hundred songs. Music publishers saw to it that songs were published quickly and became widely known. Root, could be purchased three days after the first shots were fired. Many of the songs composed during the war passed into the oral tradition.

Needless to say, Blacks, be they slave or soldier, also formed new songs out of their musical tradition. The Civil War Songbook: Confederate Music , Richard B. The University of North Carolina Press, Songs the Confederates Sang , Manly W. University of Oklahoma Press, Da Capo Press Columbia University Press, Battlefields and Campfires, Vol.

Pat Works on the Railway. I was in a hell of a fix, Working on the railway. It's Pat do this and Pat do that Without a stocking or cravat, With nothing but an old straw hat Working on the railway. During the 19th century, the United States was busy building its infrastructure. The construction of roads, canals and the railroad demanded large numbers of unskilled laborers. The United States had always suffered from a labor shortage and it was worsened by the fact that few Americans were willing to do heavy physical labor.

The country looked to Europe.

Going Across The Mountains lyrics

During the first quarter of the 19th century, Ireland was the most thickly populated country in Europe and many young Irishmen sought their fortune in America. In , around twenty thousand Irish arrived in the United States. In , the number had increased to more than 65, In , Ireland was hit by the potato blight, which destroyed from a third to half the potato crop on which the rural population was almost totally dependent. The following year was even worse for stores of food had been used up.

Half a million people died. The blight led to the collapse of the Irish economy. More and more animals died or were slaughtered because the potato peelings which had been used for feed were no longer available. Before the potato blight, emigration to America had been looked upon as going into exile.

After the outbreak of the blight, it could mean the alternative to death. The mass migration was worsened by the fact that British landowners drove Irish off the land in order to create larger pastures. Many came with the conviction that Ireland was damned. Up to , two and a half million Irish had immigrated to America; by it was up to four and a half million and the migration continued. For the Irish though, their misery did not end when they arrived in the New World.

Most of the Irish immigrant were unskilled laborers, many, if not most, spoke no English. At first, they remained in the big cities, where they helped build the urban infrastructure: A very large number of Irish joined the police and fire departments. Gradually, they conquered a prominent place in local politics. The Irish suffered discrimination and hate when they came to America.

They were the first very large group of non-English immigrants and on top of that they were Catholic. It was said, the Irish were criminals and morally decadent. The legend has it that Hawai'i-loa and eight other seafarers traveled miles from the Marquesa Islands to discover the uninhabited island of Maui and the other islands which were to become known as Hawai'i. That was sometime between and AD.

In the 12 th century, Tahitians arrived in Maui. The Tahitian chiefs became the ali'i , the ruling class, introduced the Tahitian religion and the kapu system, a rigid social structure which became the foundation of Hawaiian society. Not until about was the rivalry among the competing ali'i of Maui settled when Ali'i Pi'iloni united all of Maui. After his death, his two sons fought for the control of the island. Kiha-a-pi'ilani emerged as the ruler of Maui thanks to the help of warriors from Hawai'i.

From the coming of the Tahitians until the arrival of the British explored Captain James Cook, the Hawaiians had virtually no contact with the outside world. Cook landed in Kahului Bay on Maui in November 26, It was a watershed in the history of Maui and the other islands, disrupting the native culture and leading to violent clashes. Cook himself was killed in Maui at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, Shortly before the coming of Captain Cook, the ruler of the island of Hawai'i , Kamehemeha I, had begun invading the adjecent islands in an attempt to establish a united Kingdom of Hawai'i.

In , just two years before the arrival of Cook, an attack on Maui had been repelled. But a second invasion in ended in the conquest of Maui. His success had been made possible through the acquisition of superior weapons from the British. In , Kamehameha I had a palace built in Lahaina. Almost at the same time, whaling began to boom and brought with it less desirable influences of Western society.

One of the most important tasks of the missionaries was the education of the local population. Instruction was in Hawaiian. Because Hawaiian had no written language, the missionaries developed a written language based on a letter alphabet. From , all the children of Maui over the age of four were required to attend school, where they were taught reading, writing and the Bible. By mid-century, the Hawaiian islands had the highest literacy rate in the world.

The Westerners who came to Hawai'i also brought with them diseases to which the native Hawaiian population had no resistance. Viruses such as measles had devastating effects on the Hawaiians, soon radically changing the ratio of natives to immigrants. During the first century after the arrival of James Cook, the number of native Hawaiians was reduced from perhaps , to less than 54, With the rapid expansion of trade and whaling in the Pacific, Lahaina became a major port. By the s, hundreds of ships anchored there, bringing with them merchants, prostitution, saloons and gambling.

But the island was changing in other ways as well. The island's first sugar plantation had been established in Hana. After an smallpox epidemic had killed many Hawaiians, devastating the work force, large numbers of immigrants came from China , Japan , the Philippines and to a lesser extent Europe came to Maui to work in the cane fields.

Americans began to invest in pineapple and sugar plantations and their influence was increasing. This eventually led to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in In the following year, the American pineapple tycoon Jim Dole became governor of the Republic of Hawaii.

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The United States annexed Hawai'i in Hawai'i became the 50 th state of the United States in A version of the song was found in the log of the ship Atkins Adams and included in Gale Huntington's collection, Songs the Whaleman Sang. It is not a shanty, but a song sung by sailors off-duty. Like most old folk songs, there are many verses and versions. Already in the Hawaiian islands were serving British and American whalers as a provisioning station.

The whaling trips lasted three to four months. The whalers met in Maui or Oahu twice a year, in March and November. In the summer, they hunted along the Kamchatka Peninsula and further north in the Arctic Sea. In the winter, the whalers were in the South Pacific. Among the whalers, who might very well have heard or sung this song was Herman Melville.

At the highpoint of Pacific whaling, as many as ships wintered in Hawai'i. By the s, the great age of whaling in the Pacific was past.

Goin’ Across the Mountain

The decline in the whale population, the use of new raw materials such as petroleum and the disruptions of the Civil War accelerated it end. American Sea Shanties and Songs , various artists. From the Library of Congress collection. In school children are taught that people came to America to seek freedom. That is surely true in a sense, but as often as not they were fleeing from something rather than to something.

The goal was to flee their old life.

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Emigrating to America was a way out when conditions seemed unbearable, be it Irish, who were fleeing hunger, Germans, who were forced to leave their homeland after the revolution of , Scandinavians, who were unable to acquire land in the own country, Mexicans, who fled from poverty, or Vietnamese, who had to leave their home after the American war. Many came of their own free will. The immigrants were rarely made to feel welcome.

Up to the 20 th century, America desperately needed workers and settlers, yet the newcomers often faced mistrust and rejection. As a rule, the immigrants remained strangers in their new land, with an incomplete command of the language, without the hoped-for economic success. It was usually the second generation which reaped the fruits of their parents deeds.

The melting pot legend should also be scrutinized a bit more closely. There is much truth in it. People of many different nationalities were successfully Americanized. The children of the immigrants learned the new language, the grandchildren could no longer speak the old one and married a partner of a different national background.

That has been the common path of Americanization. But the process has certainly not always been so peaceful, voluntary and rarely as complete as the legend suggests. Every wave of immigrants brought it culture with in and changed their new home. What it means to be an American has always been constantly changing. And some national groups have been astonishingly resistant to assimilation.

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Up to the American Civil War, for example, the Germans in America were looked upon with great mistrust. Many were Catholics or freethinkers. But with time, they became accepted although they retained their language, had their own organizations and newspapers and formed a community within the larger American community.

They were, after all, hard-working and law-abiding.

Then the First World War broke out. The German-American community took the Kaiser's side and did what it could to keep the United States out of the war. They were physically attacked, German stores were demolished, German newspapers banned, German language instruction dropped from school the curricula. The German community in the United States did not survive the war. Yet the cultures of the immigrants never perished entirely, not even the German. The United States continues to be and is perhaps increasingly a multi-cultural society. For example, one can still hear music from Germany , Spain , Finland , Norway , Poland and many other cultures.

The Irish musical tradition in America is especially lively. Every effort was made to rob them of their cultural identities and languages, and yet at the same time not allowing them to integrate themselves into the American society until well into the 20th century, a process as yet not completed, one that perhaps never will be. Still, the influence of the African-Americans on American culture, especially music, is immeasurable. Being a land of immigrants means being a land which is a constantly changing mosaic. When a piece is lost, another is added and the picture becomes ever more colorful.

In , the Immigration Service made Ellis Island, a former munitions storage area, a mile from Manhatten and half a mile from the Statue of Liberty, the new reception center for immigrants. The old center, Castle Gardens in Manhatten, could no longer handle the crush. The new center on Ellis Island was opened on January 1, , just in time for the big wave of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

The island was even enlarged from 3 to almost 25 acres with earth from the construction of the New York subway. When a ship arrived, passengers in first and second class were allowed to land after a brief interview on board ship. The other passengers were numbered and brought to Ellis Island. They had to stand in long lines. First, they were checked by a doctor for infectious diseases, psychiatric disorders or disabilities which could prevent them from making a living.

With the help of translators, they were interviewed. Twenty-nine questions had to be answered. Along with the usual biographical questions, one was asked if one were an anarchist. Then one was accepted or rejected. The whole procedure lasted from two to five hours. Some of those rejected committed suicide.

Goin’ Across the Mountain

Hundreds of engaged or long separated couples married on the island. Catholic priests were almost always present and clergymen from other denominations could be called on short notice. Under the new more restrictive immigration laws, the number of immigrants dropped radically during and after the First World War. During the Second World War, illegal aliens were detained on the island. In , the history of Ellis Island as reception center came to an end. More than twenty million immigrants had passed through the center. Photographic Tour of Ellis Island. His father was in the army and his mother worked, so Guy was raised mostly by his grandmother, who ran the town hotel.

When he was six years old, the family moved to Rockport, on the Gulf of Mexico. His father, Ellis Clark, was a lawyer. His parents were not musical, but were interested in literature. A colleague of his father played the guitar and sang Mexican songs. When I heard her play guitar the attraction was just instantaneous. It was so beautiful and mystical. The next time I went to Mexico I bought a cheap guitar. I came back and learned everything I could from her; the first songs I learned were mostly in Spanish.

After high school and attendance at several colleges, Clark landed in Houston and came into contact with John Lomax, Jr. He got to hear singers like Lightning Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb. In the sixties, he moved to the west coast. While living in San Francisco, he met and married Susanne, a painter.

Guy is today himself a guitar-builder. After returning from California, he worked for a year as art director at a television station. With the suppost of his wife, he decided to make music his career. In , the Clarks moved to Nashville to sell his songs, which met with ever-increasing success. Susanne Clark, a painter, also began to write songs. The album received critical acclaim, but was not a commercial success. More than two-thirds raised their hands. When I think of my friend serving overseas, his wife, daughter, and unborn child, I feel the power of love in my prayers for them.

I am deeply grateful, of course, for the sacrifice they make. Yet that sacrifice also evokes anxiety in me. When I feel all mixed up like that, I need the hope and comfort that music provides. Thanks for listening and reading today, folks! I discuss my views and reasons for them in some detail here: You must be logged in to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Log in to Reply. PS Skip to Tonight You're Gonna Lose Me When the Angels Call My Name Cheeeek that out dude.

This is bold text and this is normal text. Really delete this comment? Going Across the Mountain. It's Better to Be Alone. One Morning In May.