AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

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1882

🇺🇸 The History of “America the Beautiful”

“America the Beautiful” is one of the most beloved patriotic songs in the United States. Though often mistaken for the national anthem, it is actually a hymn celebrating the country’s natural beauty and ideals.

✍️ The Lyrics: Katharine Lee Bates

The words were written in 1893 by poet and professor Katharine Lee Bates.

  • That summer, she traveled to Pikes Peak in Colorado.

  • Inspired by the panoramic view of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, she wrote a poem originally titled “Pikes Peak.”

  • The poem was first published in 1895 in a church magazine called The Congregationalist.

  • Bates later revised the poem several times (notably in 1904 and 1913).

Her lyrics emphasize:

  • Natural beauty (“purple mountain majesties”)

  • Moral character (“crown thy good with brotherhood”)

  • National unity and sacrifice

🎼 The Music: Samuel A. Ward

The melody was composed in 1882 by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.

  • Ward originally wrote the tune, called “Materna,” for a different hymn.

  • In 1910, Bates’s poem was officially paired with Ward’s music.

  • The combined version quickly became popular across the country.

🇺🇸 National Significance

  • “America the Beautiful” is often sung at public events, ceremonies, and sports games.

  • It has been proposed several times as an alternative national anthem.

  • The official U.S. national anthem remains The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814.

Many Americans feel that “America the Beautiful” better reflects the nation’s values of unity, faith, and natural splendor.

📜 Famous First Verse

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

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