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7 minute read
Spirituals: Faithful Voices in the Midst of Oppression
African American spirituals emerged with the forced migration of African slaves to North America. These songs represent the cultural syncretism that came alongside the increased interactions between Europeans and Africans, as the enslaved peoples “partly composed under the influence of association with the whites, partly actually imitated from their music.”1 This music style particularly arose in North America because, though brutal, the living conditions and environment in that region enabled slaves to live longer, thus forming strong communities and families with children. Rather than the enslaved populations receiving a constant influx of new migrants, thus maintaining strong ties to their place of origin, the populations in North America slowly developed a unique culture that wasn’t fully African, but also not European, leading to the birth of African American culture and music.2
Kongo cross, solid cast brass, 15001600s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fair use. A crucial step in the development of Black spirituals was the spread of Christianity. The initial introduction of European trade to the African continent also brought the merchants’ religious views and led to the conversion of some regions, particularly in western Africa and along the Congo River. Therefore, Christianity was already prevalent among some of the enslaved peoples and some historians even suggest that the first African slaves brought to North America in 1619 were already believers.3 Peter H. Wood explains that enslaved Africans slowly adopted Christianity as the dominant belief towards the second and third generation because they had less exposure or ties to African religion. However, he argues that, despite its European influences, a distinct black Christianity developed that emphasized the Old Testament stories and Jesus’s role as “a friend of the afflicted and a redeemer of the weak.”4 These themes are reflected in the spirituals’ lyrics which frequently mention the biblical patriarch Jacob, and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and eventual entry into the promised land.
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The songs were also unique in their blending of European and African music styles. They were performed in a congregational setting, such as in church on Sunday or worship meetings that were facilitated multiple nights of the week on plantations. They were also used as songs of labour to assist slaves in daily work, especially in tasks requiring physical exertion. Several of the melodies mimicked European music, but given the oral tradition of the songs, they often included other original elements.5 A significant characteristic of the spiritual, more African in origin, was improvisation. The leader would begin chanting one line, which the congregation would repeat several times before moving onto the next verse, while the congregation would break out into several harmonies and exaltations added alongside the usual lyrics. This reflects the African tradition of music being a communal activity in which everyone partakes and spontaneously changes the song while also shouting words of encouragement and clapping or dancing along.6 This collaborative approach is described by one observer as the piece was “sung by the entire multitude with
“The Old Plantation,” watercolour on paper, 1785-1795, attributed to John Rose, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Fair use.
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a zest and spirit, a swaying of the bodies and nodding of the heads and lighting of the countenances and rhythmical movement of the hands.”7 The lyrics of the spirituals are also notable as they used English words but with different grammar and pronunciation. Dialects would vary greatly depending on the state and even the plantation, but the researchers on the Sea Islands of South Carolina noticed that there was a frequent omission of auxiliary verbs and other small words while the “th” sound is often pronounced as “d.” This African American vernacular is demonstrated in the spiritual, “The Lonesome Valley” the first verse of which is: “My brudder, want to get religion?/ Go down in de lonesome valley/Go down in de lonesome valley/Go down in de lonesome valley, my Lord/ Go down in de lonesome valley, To meet my Jesus dere.”8 The unique dialect and style of performing spirituals reflects the amalgamation of African and European cultures that was taking place on plantations in the United States.
Since slaves in the United States were prohibited from learning to read and write, oral traditions and music, especially, became the main avenue for learning and passing on beliefs. The spirituals served a dual purpose as worship of God and expression of strong emotions in the face of great oppression.9 They are both a lament of
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slaves’ current circumstances and a reminder to have hope in the sovereign Lord of justice and redemption. As one author observed, “the words breathe a trusting faith in rest for the future — in ‘Canaan’s air and happy land,’ to which their eyes seem constantly turned.”10 This can be reflected in the spiritual “Poor Rosy” in which the lyrics comment on the troubles that the singers faced. “Got hard trial in my way,” is repeated three times as is the response that “heav’n shall-a be my home.”11 The songs reinforced the ideal of equality by drawing attention to African Americans slaves’ identity as children of God, similar to the chosen Israelites who also suffered enslavement. This is demonstrated in the spiritual “Let God’s Saints Come In” which first retells the story of God using Moses to free the Israelites and then the chorus becomes personal, saying, “Canaan land is the land for me.”12 By drawing a direct connection between biblical passages and their enslavement, spirituals acted as a form of resistance to slavery and reinforced African Americans’ spiritual identity and their belief in their equality as children of God.
Spirituals also supported more overt forms of resistance as scholars have suggested that the lyrics also served as coded messages for runaway slaves.13 The themes of bondage and salvation alluded to slaves’ desire for freedom and parts of songs often directly addressed this, as is evident in the River Jordan being a direct reference for the Ohio river, the destination of the Underground Railroad.14 Frederick Douglass explained how a song about the land of Canaan was also about reaching the northern states or Canada, where slavery was abolished. He commented, “our repeated singing of “O Canaan, sweet Canaan…” [communicated] something more than hope of reaching heaven. We meant to reach the north–and the north was our Canaan.”15 Spirituals were used among the slaves to spread information and form escape plans. For example, Harriet Tubman, the woman dubbed “Black Moses” for leading many slaves to freedom, had a signature song she would use to alert slaves to her presence and urge them to prepare to leave. The spirituals could also be
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Ella Fitzgerald with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, and Timme Rosenkrantz in New York City, 1947, Photograph by William P. Gottlieb, United States Library of Congress, Fair use.
adapted to contain messages about the journey to liberation, such as “Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd” which guided fugitives to travel in the direction of the Big Dipper.16 The songs of African Americans in slavery not only served as an expression of their faith but also as an expression of their resistance to racist ideologies and the institution of slavery, in both their beliefs and actions.
Many of these spirituals have been lost to time as there was no attempt to record them until the end of the U.S. Civil War and the complexities and African aspects of the songs could not be fully represented in European musical notation.17 However, what has been recorded demonstrates how music and religion was used to lament enslavement and find hope in gaining freedom in both life in heaven and on earth. These songs have also been preserved through oral tradition and have continued to evolve into other distinct music genres from the United States, such as gospel music, blues, jazz, and hip hop.18 Spirituals represent the larger development of African American society and culture as diverse groups of Africans were forced together through slavery and exposed to European culture. The African American spirituals exemplify an Atlantic world in which people and cultures were constantly undergoing transformation and bringing diverse peoples together.
Jessica Vriend
Education major, History minor, Intercultural religious studies minor