When Ives composed this in the 1890s (at age 17!), there was no official national anthem. "My Country Tis Of Thee" was generally recognized as the de facto anthem, and Ives used it as a basis for this when he wrote it for an Independence Day celebration.
He was organist at his church, and his father didn't let him play it often since it made some of the kids there laugh. It's a fun piece for a long Independence Day weekend.
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