America
My Country Tis of Thee
By Samuel Francis Smith

My country tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

In 1832 Samuel F. Smith received some German hymnals from his friend, Lowell Mason, who could not read them.  After reading through some of the songs, he felt very patriotic and decided to write a song of his own.  He used the tune to Thesaurus Musicus which he found in one of the books.