Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. There is no song that more vividly evokes that conflict than "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Julia Ward Howe wrote the famous ...

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) gave the United States — and the world — some of the most inspirational words ever written. She penned "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in November 1861, during a wartime ...

On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rose to speak in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. "I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised ...

Here’s one thing Presidents Bush and Obama have in common: both had the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” featured at key points in their presidencies. But how did a song with such clear sectional roots ...

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. During the Civil War, the “Battle Hymn” became a rallying cry of the ...