Slavery and the Spiritual

1. Slavery and the Spiritual How music became a cry for freedom

2. Slavery in America African tribesmen were kidnapped and taken to North America from 1619. They were bought and sold like cattle and were forced to work, often in terrible conditions. Slavery went on for 246 years. Many generations of African-American children were born into slavery. Families were often ripped apart when parents or children were sold. Americans went to war against each other in 1861, with the Northern states fighting the Southern states. The “Yankee” (Northerner) effort to abolish slavery was one of the causes of the American Civil War. The North won, and slavery was abolished in 1865.

3. How Spirituals developed Spirituals were religious songs made up by the slaves and passed on to others via their “grapevine” (talking/singing). They were influenced by African rhythms and pentatonic scales. Singing was an important part of everyday life; the same song could be used as a work song, a religious song or for singing with friends. The songs gave the slaves an identity, a tradition and a spiritual bond. They sang about what they knew, so freedom was a central theme. However, they knew they would be heard by their “masters”, so the message was usually veiled. An escaped slave, Frederick Douglass, said about spirituals: “every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.”

4. About Spirituals The slaves usually used ancient Bible stories about slaves to disguise a call for their own freedom. Consider these lines from “Go Down Moses”: You need not always weep and mourn,Let My people go!And wear these slavery chains forlorn,Let My people go! Go down, Moses,Way down in Egypt’s land;Tell old PharaohTo let My people go!