"I'm Going Home to Dixie" is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

walkaround A walkaround (also spelled walk-around or walk around, or called a horay) was a dance from the blackface minstrel shows of the 19th century. The walkaround began in the 1840s as a dance for one performer, but by the 1850s, many dancers or the en ...

, a type of dance song. It was written by

Dan Emmett Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie ...

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...

as a sequel to the immensely popular walkaround "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

". The

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

was first published that same year by

Firth, Pond & Company Firth, Pond & Company was an American music company that publisher, published sheet music and Distribution (marketing), distributed musical instruments in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The company began in 1847 in music, 1847 when William Ha ...

in an arrangement by C. S. Grafully. Despite the publisher's claim that "I'm Going Home to Dixie" had been "Sung with tumultuous applause by the popular

Bryant's Minstrels Bryant's Minstrels was a blackface minstrel troupe that performed in the mid-19th century, primarily in New York City. The troupe was led by the O'Neill brothers from upstate New York, who took the stage name Bryant.Mahar 38. History The eldest ...

", the song lacked the charm of its predecessor, and it quickly faded into obscurity. The song's lyrics follow the

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

scenario of the freed

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

longing to return to his master in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

; it was the last time Emmett would use the term "Dixie" in a song. Its tune simply repeated Emmett's earlier walkaround " I Ain't Got Time to Tarry" from 1858. Emmett dedicated "I'm Going Home to Dixie" to P. P. Werlein, Esq., a publisher who had disputed Emmett's copyright to "Dixie" by printing it in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

without attribution. The sheet music also included a note as to the true location of "

As many inquiries have been made in regard to the meaning of "Dixies Land" and as to the location, it may be well to remark, that with the southern negroes, Dixies Land is but another name for Home. Hence it is but fair to conclude, that all south of the Mason's & Dixon's Line is the true "Dixies Land."Sheet music.

Notes

References

* Abel, E. Lawrence (2000). ''Singing the New Nation: How Music Shaped the Confederacy, 1861-1865''. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. * Emmett, Daniel Decatur (1861)
I'm Going Home to Dixie
. Firth Pond & Co. Accessed 3 December 2005. * Hartman, Saidiya V. (1997). ''Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-making in Nineteenth-century America''. New York: Oxford University Press. * Nathan, Hans (1962). ''Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Blackface minstrel songs 1861 songs Songs of the American Civil War Songs written by Dan Emmett {{song-stub