Sarah DePasquale

Professor Nunnally

POLT 522.1ON

2/18/2020

“The Liberty Song”

Upon analyzing “The Liberty Song”, written by John Dickinson, it is clear that the piece

embodies a message of political dissent. “The Liberty Song” was published in 1768 and is

known to us as one of the first songs to express American patriotism. The famous passage in the

song, “By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall,” is still prevalent in today’s American society.

John Dickinson wrote the song following the Townshend Acts of 1767, another act in

which taxes were placed on the Colonies. At this point, the colonists were simply fed up with

Great Britain’s oppression, and the Townshend Acts served as the final straw. Dickinson

considered the taxes issued by Britain as a form of robbery, described in the lyrics. This song

was a call to action for the colonists to band together and resist the “tyrannous acts” that had

been occurring. It was first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768. Shortly after, it was

included in the Boston Chronicle in August 1768. The song grew popularity and it was sung

across the colonies at political events, dinners, and celebration, inspiring colonists to revolt

against Great Britain.

Dickinson’s message falls in line with the views of Beza and Mornay from The Rights of

Magistrates and Vindiciae contra tyrannos. Both men spoke about how violence is justified as a

last resort in the face of a tyrant. Dickinson makes it clear that the colonists have had enough,

and there is nothing left to do but revolt.

 Works Cited

Dickinson, John. “American Revolutionary Song: The Liberty Song.” Youtube, Ian Berwick, 21

July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvLdawL3wHM.

Dickinson College Archives. “‘The Liberty Song’ (1768).” "The Liberty Song" (1768) |

Dickinson College, 2005, archives.dickinson.edu/sundries/liberty-song-1768.