American patriotic music
American patriotic music is a part of the culture and history of the United States since its foundation in the 18th Century. It has served to encourage feelings of honor both for the country's forefathers and for national unity. They include hymns, military themes, national songs, and musical numbers from stage and screen, as well as others adapted from many poems. Much of American patriotic music owes its origins to six main wars — the American Revolution, the American Indian Wars, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the American Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. During the period prior to American independence, much of the country's patriotic music was aligned with the political ambitions of the British in the new land. And so, several songs are tied with the country's British origin. Colonial Era Written by Founding Father John Dickinson in 1768 to the music of William Boyce's "Heart of Oak", "The Liberty Song" is perhaps the first patriotic song ever written in America. It contains the line "by uniting we stand, by dividing we fall", which was an overture to the feelings of common blood and origin the Americans had while fighting the French and Indian War, and