Santy Anno: A Gold-Rush Shanty
Download PDF Version of this Lesson Plan Here.
Introduction
“Santy Anno” is one of the most popular shanties of the age of sail. The story begins in 1835 in Texas—part of the newly independent Republic of Mexico—when the President of that Republic, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, repealed the Mexican Constitution and forbade any new settlers in the state. Texas rebelled and declared its independence; General Santa Anna marched north to bring Texas back under Mexican control.
Santa Anna’s response to the Texans lives on in the history of that state: 189 Texans killed in the defense of the Alamo; 342 prisoners executed at Goliad. At the crucial Battle of San Jacinto, the Texans’ cry: “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” presaged the defeat and capture of Santa Anna, followed by his signing of a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence—which treaty was not, however, recognized by the Mexican government.
Texas was now an independent republic, but the majority of its citizens wished to join the United States. President James Polk’s annexation of Texas in 1845, though welcomed by the Texans, was treated by Mexico as an act of war. Thus began the Mexican-American War (1846-48), culminating in Santa Anna’s defeat and the ceding of the greater part of the Mexican Republic—including Texas, New Mexico and Alta California—to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).
The California Gold Rush in 1849 was, in a sense, made possible by the liberation of California from Mexico. Thus does Santa Anna, who was fated to preside over the loss of the greater part of Mexico to the United States, become the central figure of a British sea shanty about the California Gold Rush. The route from Liverpool around Cape Horn was the longest way to California (a six-month voyage!), but also the safest.
Note: Unlike most versions of this shanty—which claim that “Santy Anno gained the day/All on the plains of Mexico”—this recording of the shanty gets the facts right: Zacharias (Zachary) Taylor and (General Winfield) Scott in fact “made poor Santy meet his Waterloo” (at the Battle of Buena Vista, 1847).
Activity
Listen to the recording of “Santy Anno”
https://kodalycollection.org/song.cfm?id=707&title=Santy%20Anno
- • What type of song is this? (shanty) What leads you to that conclusion?
(elicit lyrics that support this)
- • What does the word “her” refer to in “Heave her up and away we’ll go”? (anchor)
- • What places are mentioned in the first verse? (Liverpool, Cape Horn, Frisco Bay, plains of Mexico)
- • Identify these places on a map.
Play the recording again for students to listen for lyrics that repeat.
- • What lyrics are repeated?
“Heave away, Santy Anno” and “All on the plains of Mexico”
(these are single lines and are called “refrains.”)
“So, heave away and away we’ll go, heave away, Santy Anno;
Heave away and away we’ll go, all on the plains of Mexico.”
(this is longer and is called a chorus)
Project the score and invite students to sing along on the refrains and chorus as they listen again.
- How did singing the song help facilitate the work of raising the anchor? (The rhythm of the song matched the steps of sailors as they pushed the bars of the capstan to raise the anchor.) Students can repeat singing the song and take positions in pairs or threes, around an imaginary capstan, gripping imaginary poles as they step.
The Capstan. Engraving by Arthur Briscoe, 1925. British Museum. Creative Commons License. Find the archival scan here.
Share photos of clipper ships from Library of Congress archives:
New York Clipper Ship “Challenge” (1835–1856)
https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.09547/
Clipper ship “Great Republic,” docked at Brooklyn, NY, 1860
https://www.loc.gov/resource/stereo.1s05047/
Clipper ship “Three Brothers,” 2,972 tons: The largest sailing ship in the world, 1875
https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.00670/
Present background information about General Santa Anna and discuss why this song was among the favorite shanties of seamen at that time.
Additional Songs
To find more shanties on this website, choose shanty from the dropdowns within song type at: https://kodalycollection.org/collection.cfm. Students can choose a shanty to research and present to the class, including how it was used, what is interesting about the song, why they chose it. Students can sing along to the refrain or chorus, as they would if they were working on the ships.
Additional Resources
The Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center exceptional blog about sea shanties, by Stephen Winick, includes more photos and links to recordings. It can be found at: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2021/01/a-deep-dive-into-sea-shanties/
