PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Julia Ward Howe

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - December 1, 2002: Julia Ward¹ Howe

By Shelley Gollust

VOICE ONE:

I'm Ray Freeman.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith with the Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell about a
person important in the history of the United States.

Today, we tell about Julia Ward Howe. She wrote one of the great songs of the American Civil War, the "Battle
Hymn² of the Republic."

((MUSIC: FIFE AND DRUMS))

VOICE ONE:

Marching soldiers. No end to the lines of soldiers marching across the land. They came
from the Northern states fighting to keep the Union together. And they came from the
Southern states fighting for a separate Confederate government that would protect their
right to have slaves. In summer and winter, the fighting continued. The sun burned like
fire. The soldiers marched on. The cold winter winds blew snow in their faces. The
soldiers marched on.

(Photo - Library of
Congress)
The United States was a nation cut in two by a bitter struggle over slavery and a state's
right to leave the Union. America's Civil War lasted four years. It destroyed the land. And it destroyed the young
men of the nation.

VOICE TWO:

Many stories have been told about the soldiers of the Civil War. They have told of the soldiers fear and terror³,
their great and heroic⁴ acts, how they suffered and died, and how they sang before and after battle. One song,
more than any other, caught the spirit of the Union soldiers of the North. The song is the "Battle Hymn of the
Republic." Here is the first part of the song, sung by Odetta:

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

The words are religious. They are like a hymn, a song of praise to God. This is the story of the woman who wrote
the song.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

The place was Washington D.C. The year was Eighteen-Sixty-One. It was a wet winter night. There were
thousands of soldiers in the city. The hospitals were full. The field of battle was just across the Potomac River in
the southern state of Virginia.

A woman lay asleep in her hotel room. She had had a long, hard day. She had come to Washington to visit the
Union troops. The sight and sounds of the soldiers gave her no rest. Even in her sleep she seemed to hear them.
She heard their sad voices as they sat beside their fires. She heard them singing. They sang a marching song she
knew. It was a song about John Brown, an activist⁵ against slavery. The song told about how his body turned to


earth in the grave⁶. It told about how his spirit lived on.

VOICE ONE:

The woman's name was Julia Ward Howe. She was a writer and social reformer. She was born in New York City
in Eighteen-Nineteen. Her father was a wealthy banker. Julia married Samuel Gridley Howe. He was a reformer
and teacher of the blind. Julia and Samuel Howe moved to Boston. Missus Howe raised five children. And she
published several books of poetry.

VOICE TWO:

Julia Ward Howe and Samuel Gridley Howe were leaders in the movement in America to end slavery. They
published an anti-slavery newspaper called the "Commonwealth⁷."

Missus Howe had met John Brown. Like him, she was an anti-slavery activist. She opposed those Americans
who used black people as slaves. Unlike him, she did not approve of using violence to end slavery.

In Eighteen-Fifty-Nine, John Brown tried to start a revolt⁸ of slaves. He led an attack on Harper's Ferry, a town in
what was then the state of Virginia. [Editor's note: That area did not become the state of West Virginia until
1863.] The town had a factory that made guns for the army. It also had a storage center for military equipment.
The attack on Harper's Ferry failed. John Brown was put on trial for treason⁹. He was found guilty and was
executed¹⁰.

VOICE ONE:

In the northern states, John Brown became a hero. His story was told through song. The song was most popular
with soldiers. It became the unofficial marching song of the Union Army.

Julia Ward Howe also liked to sing the song. She felt that the music was beautiful, but the words about John
Brown were not. So she decided¹¹ to write different words to the music.

Those words came to her that night as she lay in her hotel room in Washington. She was awakened¹² by her dreams
of marching soldiers.

VOICE TWO:

"I found to my surprise that the words were forming themselves in my head. I lay still until the last line had
completed itself in my thoughts.

Then I quickly got out of bed. I thought I would forget the words if I did not write them immediately. I looked for
a piece of paper and a pen. Then I began to write the lines of a poem:

'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord¹³. He is trampling¹⁴ out the vintage where the grapes of
wrath¹⁵ are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift¹⁶ sword, His truth is marching on.'

I wrote until I was finished. Then I lay down again and fell asleep. I felt something important had happened to
me."

VOICE ONE:

An American magazine, "The Atlantic Monthly," bought Missus Howe's poem. She was paid four dollars. The
magazine published the poem in Eighteen-Sixty-Two. The poem became very popular. It had just the right words
for the great marching music. The soldiers of the Union Army began to sing the words Julia Ward Howe had
written. It soon became their official marching song -- "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

VOICE TWO:

Julia Ward Howe became famous. She was invited to the White House to meet President Abraham Lincoln. After
dinner at the White House, the guests talked about the Civil War. They were sad. The Union army had suffered


many defeats. Then someone began to sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Missus Howe and President
Lincoln joined in the singing. There were tears in the President's eyes. Here is the last part of the song, sung by
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir¹⁷:

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

After the North won the Civil War in Eighteen-Sixty-Five, Julia Ward Howe became involved in other social
reform movements. She became a leader in the movement to gain equal rights for American women, including
the right to vote. She helped establish the New England Woman's Club in Eighteen-Sixty-Eight. This
organization worked for equal rights for women in education and business. She served as president of the group
for more than thirty years.

VOICE TWO:

Julia Ward Howe also became involved in the movement for peace. In Eighteen-Seventy, she issued an "Appeal
to Womanhood Throughout the World." This was a call for an international conference of women to support the
peaceful settlement of conflicts. The next year she helped organize the American group of the Woman's
International Peace Association¹⁸. She became president of the group.

Julia Ward Howe continued to write books and make speeches about the issues she felt were important. Through
the years, thousands of people came to hear her recite her most famous poem. She died in Nineteen-Ten. She was
ninety-one years old.

VOICE ONE:

The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" still is one of America's great traditional songs. No one knows for sure who
wrote the music. But the song lives on. And so does the name of the woman who made the music famous with
her words: Julia Ward Howe.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Shirley
Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Ray Freeman. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of
America.

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1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

3 terror   

n.恐怖；可怖的人(事)

参考例句：

• We were in mortal terror of being found out. 我们非常害怕被发现。
• That guy is a proper terror. 那家伙真是讨厌。

4 heroic   

adj.英雄的，英勇的，崇高的

参考例句：

• Many people have heard of the man's heroic deeds.许多人都已经听说了这个人的英雄事迹。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。

7 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

8 revolt   

n.叛乱，反抗，反感；v.叛乱，起反感，使...恶心

参考例句：

• The revolt was suppressed in a matter of hours.叛乱在几小时之内就平息下去了。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

9 treason   

n.叛逆，通敌，背叛，叛国罪

参考例句：

• The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason.国会有权宣布如何惩罚叛国罪。
• She was arraigned for high treason.她被控叛国罪。

10 executed   

v.执行（法令）( execute的过去式和过去分词 )；（按计划或设计）作成；履行；演（戏）

参考例句：

• He was executed for treason. 他因叛国罪被处死。
• He was executed in 1887for plotting to assassinate the tsar. 他因密谋暗杀沙皇在1887年被判处极刑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

14 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

15 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

16 swift   

n.雨燕，大滚筒；adj.迅速的，快的，敏捷的，立刻的；adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He is swift to hear,but slow to speak.他听力敏锐，但不善言辞。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery.他康复得相当快。

17 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

18 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。