A MERICA THE B EAUTIFUL
BY KATHERINE LEE BATES
Time: Less than a Day
Author: Eric Goodson
Unit: 1890s
Course: Making History
Materials:
• Lyrics to America the Beautiful (see below)
OVERVIEW: Katherine Lee Bates taught at Dana Hall from 1881 to 1886, when she received
a teaching position at Wellesley College. In 1895 she traveled to Colorado to teach summer
school, and was inspired to write “America the Beautiful.” It was published in 1897 to
commemorate the fourth of July. In 1904 it was set to a tune written by Samuel A. Ward.
The poem takes up many contemporary ideas, including manifest destiny, Victorian restraint,
the Columbia World’s Fair, and class conflict. The high patriotism of the song (and its
immense popularity upon publication) gives us some sense of the pride Americans felt about
their civilization and its future, and in some way may help us understand zeal with which
Americans pursued the many adventures of the day, from Progressivism and urban-reform,
to the Spanish-American War and imperialism at the turn of the century.
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OBJECTIVES
Close reading skill development
Critical thinking skill development
Making connections to contemporary issues and events, and
seeing the poem as a popular expression of the turn-of-thecentury mindset.
PRE-TEACHING:
• Give the background on Bates and the creation of the poem.
• Since the poem was quite popular at the turn of the century, what does this say about
the American mindset then?
PROCEDURE:
1st Verse-focusing on the land.
• “Sea to Shining Sea”
o An expression of Manifest Destiny?
o As the U.S. Census declares the West closed, and as Turner declares that the
American character is born in the West, expansion from sea to sea takes on a
special meaning for Americans. If a uniquely American identity is born out
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of westward expansion, and there is no longer any unclaimed land to exploit,
what does it mean to be American?
• “Amber waves of grain…fruited plain”
o Bates was inspired by the wheat fields of Kansas here.
• “Purple mountains majesty”
o Inspired by the view from atop Pikes Peak in the front range of the Colorado
Rockies.
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2 Verse-focusing on the Pilgrims.
• “pilgrim feet”
o There was a revived interest in the Pilgrims during Victorian times, for their
morality, religious fervor, and carving out a place in the new world. See
Saint-Gaudens’ “The Puritan” (1886) for a wonderful visual example.
• “Confirm thy soul in self-control”
o Victorian interest in self-control, in putting everything in its place.
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3 Verse-focusing on the Patriots of the American Revolution.
• “May God thy gold refine”
o After praising the Pilgrims for their efforts, this verse chastises the Robber
Barons for their greed.
4th Verse-looking to the future.
• “Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!”
o The “alabaster cities” refers to the “White City” of the 1893 Columbia
World’s Fair, which envisioned the future in grand and technologically
marvelous ways.
o “human tears” may refer to the problems in the present cities, with the
slums, crime and disease.
Other themes to discuss:
• How might various groups respond to this poem?
o Progressives?
o Imperialists?
o Industrialists?
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America the Beautiful (1895)
By Katherine Lee Bates
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
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