User:Jengod/sourapple
"Oh we'll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree" (and similar) was a variant lyric of John Brown's Body that was sung by the U.S. military, Unionist civilians, and freedmen during and after the American Civil War.[1][2][3][4] The phrase and associated imagery became significant in the post-war legal issues surrounding the potential prosecution of former Confederate politicians and officers. The phrase is sometime referenced in political cartoons and artworks of the time, and in political debates continuing well into the post-Reconstruction era.[5][6][7][8]
In 1880, a U.S. Army veteran took credit for first singing the lyric in spring 1862 in Virginia, having taken inspiration from a prior song about a "A sick monkey in a sour apple tree."[9] A Civil War-era pieced-quilt block pattern called Apple Tree probably references the song lyric.[10] In 1947 a survivor of American slavery named Perry Vaughn recalled, "I fought in Abe Lincoln's army and played the bass horn in the Army band. I can still remember, like it was yesterday, playing 'We'll Hang Jeff Davis on a Sour Apple Tree.'"[11]
A less bloodthirsty variant was "We'll feed Jeff Davis sour apples 'til he gets the diarhee."[12]
Richard Wright's Big Boy Leaves Home references a later-developed white supremacist response: "We'll hang ever nigger t a sour apple tree."[13]
Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died of natural causes in 1889.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ Finseth, Ian Frederick (2006). The American Civil War: An Anthology of Essential Writings. Taylor & Francis. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-415-97744-9.
- ^ Kobbé, Gustav (1906). Famous American Songs. T.Y. Crowell. p. 158.
- ^ French, Justus Clement; Cary, Edward (1865). The Trip of the Steamer Oceanus to Fort Sumter and Charleston, S. C.: Comprising the ... Programme of Exercises at the Re-raising of the Flag Over the Ruins of Fort Sumter, April 14th, 1865. "The Union" Steam Printing House. pp. 90–91.
- ^ Kent, Charles Nelson (1898). History of the Seventeenth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. 1862-1863. By order of the Seventeenth New Hampshire veteran association.
- ^ "Jeff. D hung on a "sour apple tree" or treason made odious". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ "Hang him on the sour apple tree". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ "John Brown exhibiting his hangman". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ "A Memory of the Past". Ellsworth Reporter. 1886-06-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ "Jeff Davis on a Sour Apple Tree: How the Famous Song Had Its Origin in the Army". Wood County Reporter. 1885-08-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ Brackman, Barbara (2012-12-01). Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler: 50 Quilt Blocks with Stories from History. C&T Publishing Inc. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-60705-567-9.
- ^ "Madison's 3 Surviving Ex-Slaves Total 288 Years". The Capital Times. 1947-08-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-10. & "Bondage Years Still Vivid to Ex-Slaves Here". The Capital Times. 1947-08-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
- ^ Coates, Ta-Nehisi (2011-09-08). "The Glory of the Coming of the Lord". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ Carpio, Glenda (2019-03-21). The Cambridge Companion to Richard Wright. Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-108-47517-4.
- ^ "U.S. Senate: Jefferson Davis: A Featured Biography". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-07.