Social History for Every Classroom

Search

Social History for Every Classroom

menuAmerican Social History Project  ·    Center for Media and Learning

"The Belle of Manilla"

During the 1890s, popular songs and sensationalist news coverage played a large role in drumming up support for U.S. intervention and the Spanish-American War. "The Belle of Manila," written in 1898, was one of many pro-war songs that were played in the homes of middle and upper-class families to build Patriotism and romanticize U.S. involvement abroad.

She’s my queen, Miss southern dream of the far off Philippines
For she’s the belle of old Manila,
My Filipina queen
She’s won with me with the brightness of her smile
And all her oriental dusky beauty with eyes like midnight dreams
This lady from the southern sunny isle.

Source | Louise Haack McLay, "The Belle of Manila," (San Francisco, Zeno Mauvais Music Company, 1898) from PBS, Crucible of Empire: The Spanish American War, http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_music.html.
Creator | Louise Haack McLay
Composer | Louise Haack McLay
Lyricist | Louise Haack McLay
Publisher | The Zeno Mauvais Music Company
Item Type | Music/Song
Cite This document | Louise Haack McLay, “"The Belle of Manilla",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/848.

Print and Share