'Come join hand in hand brave Americans all': Community and identity in political songs of the American Revolution

Thousands of songs were written during the American Revolution. They were published in newspapers, broadsides and songbooks, read in taverns and sung at patriotic dinners. These songs clearly meant something to the people writing, reading and singing them and deserve to be studied for what they have to say and what they reflect about the society which produced them. For years Americans had identified as British, but because of the crises of the 1760s they cast of their former nationality, history and culture and faced an identity void which their songs sought to fill. The songs of the Revolution helped Americans frame and define a community and identity in order to understand who they were becoming and distinguish themselves as a unique people from the British. Whether by humor or serious entreaties, songs shaped an imagined identity and community Americans could relate to, be proud of, and feel solidarity in.