Campaign songs are partisan ditties used in American political canvasses and more especially in presidential contests. The words were commonly set to established melodies like "Yankee Doodle," "Hail, Columbia," "Rosin the Bow," "Hail to the Chief" "John Brown's Body," "Dixie" and "O Tannenbaum" ("Maryland, My Maryland"); or to tunes widely popular at the time, such as "Few Days," "Champagne Charlie," "The Wearing of the Green" or "Down in a Coal Mine," which served for "Up in the White House." Perhaps the best known of them was "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," (in which words by Alexander C. Ross were adapted to the folk tune, "Little Pigs"). First heard at Zanesville, Ohio, this spread rapidly over the country, furnishing a party slogan. It has been said: "What the Marseilles Hymn was to Frenchmen, 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too' was to the Whigs of 1840." In 1872 an attempt was made to revive the air for "Greeley Is the Real True Blue." The words, sometimes with music, of campaign songs were distributed in paper-covered song books or "songsters." Among these were the Log Cabin Song Book of 1840 and Hutchinson's Republican Songster for the Presidential campaign of 1860, compiled by J. W. Hutchinson. For many years national campaigns included itinerant stumpspeakers, live animals, fife-and-drum corps, red fire, floats, transparencies and rousing mass meetings in courthouses and town halls. Glee clubs were organized to introduce campaign songs and to lead audiences and matchers in singing them. The songs were real factors in holding the interest of crowds, emphasizing issues, developing enthusiasm and satirizing opponents. With changes in the methods of campaigning, the campaign song declined as a popular expression. Yankee Doodle is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today (although originally satirical). ... Hail, Columbia was the unofficial national anthem of the United States until its replacement in 1931 by the officially mandated Star-Spangled Banner. It was originally composed by Joseph Hopkinson in the late 18th century. ... Hail to the Chief is the official anthem of the President of the United States. ... John Browns Body is a famous Union marching song of the American Civil War. ... DIXIES LAND, 1904 postcard Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States. ... O Tannenbaum, or, in its English version, O Christmas Tree is a Christmas carol of German origin. ... Maryland, My Maryland is the official state song of Maryland. ... Champagne Charlie is a play in which George Lemon, a popular actor, and The Great Vance, his rival, attempt to out-do the other with drinking songs (a little like some modern rap performances), and this turns into a feud. ... Muskingham County Courthouse (Photo ©2004 Leslie K. Dellovade). ... This article is about the British Whig party. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... ...

Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940 James Truslow Adams (1878 - 1949) was a U.S. historian. ...