Artist Resources: The Songs of a Young Nation Competition

Looking for inspiration for the Songs of a Young Nation Competition? Explore the music that carried America from Revolution to Reconstruction (1770–1877). These archives and collections can help you find original melodies, lyrics, and instruments — or inspire new ways to reimagine the sounds of our first century. This contest is co-sponsored by the American Battlefield Trust and the Ray and Vera Conniff Foundation.
 

Revolutionary War (1770s–1780s)

• Massachusetts Historical Society | Popular Music of the Revolutionary War Period
  Songs and manuscripts from New England’s Revolutionary past
• Library of Congress | Songs of the Revolution
  Broadside ballads, lyrics, and historical commentary
• US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps | Library of Congress
  The role of fifes, drums, and military music
• 1759 to 1799 | Songs of America Timeline
  Cultural & Historical events from 1759 to 1799 related to American song

War of 1812

• Colenda Digital Repository
  Digitized sheet music and commentary
• War of 1812 | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
  Ballads and lyrics tied to the conflict
• Library of Congress | “The Star-Spangled Banner” Origins
  Explore Francis Scott Key’s famous lyric and its musical roots

Civil War (1861 – 1867)

• Duke University | Historic American Sheet Music (Civil War focus)
  Thousands of digitized pieces, including political songs and ballads
• Library of Congress | Civil War Sheet Music Collection
  Tens of thousands of digitized songs from the conflict
• Ballads of the Civil War | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
  Curated recordings and educational material

Sounds of America (Cross-Era Inspiration)

• Slave Songs of the United States (1867)
  The first published collection of African American spirituals. Use with care: reflects biases of its time, but a critical source for understanding slavery-era music.
• African American Spirituals | Library of Congress
• Songs of Immigration and Migration | Library of Congress
• Voices, Votes, Victory: Presidential Campaign Songs | Exhibitions - Library of Congress
• Cherokee Voices, Cherokee Sounds | Cherokee Nation Website
• Mexican War Sheet Music Collection | University of Texas at Arlington