A History of Peace Music and Anthems of Resistance-Part 2

🇺🇸 Protest & Peace Music: The Short History Before the Explosion

Before protest music filled stadiums and radio waves, it lived in taverns, churches, and fields—passed hand to hand, voice to voice. In early American history, songs weren’t just entertainment; they were tools of unity, resistance, and identity.

⚔️ Early American Conflicts (Some Quick Hits)

• Revolutionary War
  • “Yankee Doodle” (reclaimed as a patriot anthem)
  • “Chester” – William Billings
  • “The Liberty Song” – John Dickinson
• War of 1812
  • “The Star-Spangled Banner” – Francis Scott Key
  • “Don’t Give Up the Ship” (naval rallying cry)
• Civil War
  • “Battle Hymn of the Republic” – Julia Ward Howe
  • “John Brown’s Body”
  • “Dixie” – Daniel Decatur Emmett
  • Spirituals and Gospel Music: “Go Down, Moses,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”

👉 These songs were massive for their time, spreading through sheet music and oral tradition—sung by soldiers, church congregations, and everyday people. No stars, no charts—just collective voice.

🎷 From Spirituals to Blues to Rhythm & Blues (1900’s–1950’s)

After the Civil War and at the turn of the century, the center of American music—and protest—shifted into African American communities. Out of spirituals and work songs came the blues, rooted in hardship, survival, and truth-telling. Artists like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Robert Johnson turned personal pain into a new American language. The US was drawn into wars that were more about supporting the soldiers, not outward protests or calls for peace. World Wars 1 and 2, and the Korean Conflict come to mind.

At this same time, jazz emerged—innovative, improvisational, and deeply tied to Black cultural expression, with pioneers like Louis Armstrong reshaping the American sound itself. Jazz and the Big Band era became the crossover music of the time and new sub-genres were also created. Gershwin, Cole Porter and so many others were at the forefront of creating a true American art form.

By the 1940s and ’50s, folk emerged, protest music yes, but starting out were more about the rights of the workers and the unions. Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joni Mitchell took us into the 60’s. During the same decades, blues music evolved into rhythm and blues (R&B)—more electric, more urban, and increasingly influential. Artists like Ray Charles and Ruth Brown blurred lines between gospel, blues, and popular music.

The Birth of Rock and Roll (and What it Really Meant)

Out of Rhythm & Blues (R&B) came rock and roll—a sound that would carry protest music into the mainstream. The term itself, popularized by figures like Alan Freed, wasn’t just catchy—it was coded language, drawn from Black musical slang with clear sexual undertones. Artists like the more pop sound of Nat King Cole, and the rockin’ Chuck Berry and Little Richard brought this sound into the spotlight—challenging racial barriers, social norms, and generational divides. And Elvis Presley exploded on the scene–his dancing was even banned in some places!

And to add even more influence, Motown out of Detroit became an institution for R&B–Berry Gordy and his huge company had created the stars and the music for the black communities that dominated the airwaves at the time–think Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and more. Sun Records in the south was pushing out Elvis and other popular early rock and country musicians. It was not long before the crossover was happening and everyone was listening to a blend of all the music on the radio and dancing to all of it, too.

👉 By the time America entered the 1960s, the foundation was set and the music had become homogenized; shaken, stirred and blended:

• Music had become individualized (based on the stars instead of crowds)
• Amplified (radio, records, television–the viral influences of the time)
• Creation of the Music “Industry” with huge recording studios and administration to push the recordings out to the radio stations for airplay

With the events of the 60’s in quick succession, the assassination of JFK in 1962 and the increased involvement in the Vietnam War under Johnson’s presidency, the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and two months later, RFK in 1968, Woodstock in 1969 and the Kent State killings in 1970 changed the trajectory of our country in a huge way. Young men coming home in caskets quickly changed the public’s opinions about the war.

So even before Vietnam gave protest music its loudest voice, the message had already been building for quite some time—from whispered spirituals to electrified rebellion and then outward to an even greater reach of people. And for all of us? The only thing left for us to do was to turn up the volume.

Stay tuned for Part 3 next week; a detailed exploration of the music during the Viet Nam War.