My last thread on IRA songs caused quite a stir, but I think this one might cause fewer disagreements. I'm hoping for a massive and disparate series of answers. I teach history at a public high school, and this year we are being allowed to (FINALLY!!!) have a much greater personal say in the creation of the curriculum and lesson plans. Good teachers try to include as many ways of learning as possible, because not everyone responds to notes and lecture.
All this being said, what would everyone suggest as key or relevant songs to explain aspects of history, such as thought or emotion? For example, obvious uses would be "Let My People Go" for plantation slave life, "16 Tons" for early labor troubles, "Yankee Doodle" to demonstrate English contempt for the colonial armies of 1776, or "We Shall Overcome" for the civil rights movement.
I hope to get a lot of creative responses to spark ideas, but please remember that modern history teachers have to go from "Plato to NATO in 38 weeks", and that the amount of time we can spend on ANYTHING is very limited, so if your suggestion is very narrowly applicable (like a 57 verse chorus on West Virginian quilting in March of 1911), please put the word SPECIFIC in all-caps at the top. I know its presumptuous to ask for submissions in a particular way, but this list is going to be edited and forwarded around a history teacher webring that will reach hundreds of educators, and they just don't have time any other way, so please post them like this:
GENERAL (or) SPECIFIC
"We Shall Overcome" (by whoever or traditional) - pertains to the Civil Rights movement
Lyrics: Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
(y'all get the idea!)