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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 revolt of slaves. He led an attack on Harper's Ferry, a town in what was then the state of Virginia. (That area became a part of the state of West Virginia in 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 treason. He was found guilty and was executed.

 

RAY FREEMAN: 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.

 

She also fought to gain equal rights for American women

 

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 decided 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 awakened by her dreams of marching soldiers.

 

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: "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 Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift 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."

 

RAY FREEMAN: An American magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, bought Mrs. 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."

 

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: 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." Mrs. 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 Choir.

 

(MUSIC)
RAY FREEMAN: 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 Women's Club in eighteen sixty-eight. This organization worked for equal rights for women本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。