Download ppt - Slavery music

Slave SongsSlave SongsAim: Aim:

How did the enslaved How did the enslaved resist slavery through resist slavery through

song?song?

During slavery times in the U.S., Capters people tried to de-Africanize the captive workforce. Enslaved Africans were forbidden to speak their native languages, to play drums, or practice their mostly own religions. They were urged and to become Christians by slave masters who used Christianity as a tool of control.

Erase everything about their African backgrounds

Why was song important to the Why was song important to the slaves?slaves?

• It was a way of preserving their African culture and heritage

• It helped to keep their spirits up during terrible times

• Singing was a way to express themselves

• Often the slaves put ‘coded’ messages into their songs

The very first enslaved spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were not far from those of hymns. Some of them, which were called “shouts” were accompanied with typical dancing including hand clapping and foot tapping.

What kind of songs did they sing?What kind of songs did they sing?

Slaves and workers who were working at fields or elsewhere outdoors, were allowed to sing “work songs”. This was the case, when they had to coordinate their efforts for hauling a fallen tree or any heavy load. Even prisoners used to sing “chain gang” songs when they worked on the road or on some construction project.

Some “drivers” allowed slaves to sing “quiet” songs, if they were not apparently against slaveholders. Such songs could be sung either by only one soloist or by several slaves. They were used for expressing personal feeling and for cheering one another. So, even at work, slaves could sing “secret messages”.

Coded songsCoded songs• The codes of the first enslaved spirituals are

often related with an escape to a free country. Have a look at these common codes:

• HOME = a safe place where everyone can live free (sometimes means heaven)

• CHARIOT/TRAIN = these were ways in which escaping slaves could get to a free country

• MOSES = the nickname for Harriet • Tubman who helped many slaves • escape on the Underground Railroad

• GLORY = closer to freedom

• DARKNESS = in slavery

• WADE IN THE WATER = advice to slaves to how to escape being tracked by hounds

• STEAL AWAY TO JESUS = a warning that an escape attempt would be happening soon

ENSLAVED SPIRITUALS AND THE UNDERGROUND

RAILROADThe Underground Railroad

(UGRR) helped slaves to run to free a country. A fugitive could

use several ways. First, they had to walk at night, using hand lights

and moonlight. When needed, they walked (“waded”) in water,

so that dogs could not smell their tracks. Second, they jumped into

chariot, where they could hide and ride away. These chariots stopped at some “stations”, but this word could mean any place

where slaves had to go. So, negro spirituals like “Wade in the Water”, “The Gospel Train”

and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” directly refer to the UGRR.

How do you think these songs became popular amongst slaves?

Why were many of these songs not written down until long after slavery had ended?

Swing Low, Sweet ChariotSwing Low, Sweet ChariotChorus:

Swing low, sweet chariot,Comin' for to carry me home!

I looked over Jordan and what did I see?

Comin' for to carry me home!

A band of angels comin' after me,


Chorus:

If you get there before I do,Comin' for to carry me home,

Jess tell my friends that I'm a comin' too,

Comin' for to carry me home.

Chorus:

I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,

Comin' for to carry me home,But still my soul feels heavenly

boundComin' for to carry me home!

Can you hear any coded messages in this song?

Chorus:

Swing low, sweet chariot,Comin' for to carry me home!

I looked over Jordan and what did I see?


A band of angels comin' after me,


Swing low = come down from the north (where there was no slavery)

Sweet chariot = the “Underground Railroad”

Home = To freedom

Jordan = The river

Angels = workers on the Underground Railroad

Coming after me = helping me to reach the North

Listen to these songs and try and Listen to these songs and try and find the coded message in them find the coded message in them while you fill in your worksheetwhile you fill in your worksheet

Wade in the WaterWade in the Water

• Wade in the water.Wade in the water, children.

Wade in the water.God's gonna trouble the water.

• Well, who are these children all dressed in red?

God's a-gonna trouble the waterMust be the children that Moses led

God's a-gonna trouble the water.• Chorus

• Who's that young girl dressed in white

Wade in the Water Must be the Children of Israelites

God's gonna trouble the Water.

• Chorus• Jordan's water is chilly and cold.

God's gonna trouble the water.It chills the body, but not the soul.

God's gonna trouble the water.• Chorus

• If you get there before I do.God's gonna trouble the water.

Tell all of my friends I'm coming too.God's gonna trouble the water.

Did you know?Did you know?

For the struggle for Civil Rights in the 1960s, African American hymns like “We Shall

Overcome”, “Oh Freedom” and “This Little Light of Mine” used to be sung.

The song Amazing Grace was written by a white slave trader. On the way back to England, the boat he was in carrying hundreds of African slaves was shipwrecked but miraculously, the slave trader survived. Afterwards he became a born-again Christian and joined the anti-slavery movement. It is thought that Amazing Grace was based on an African spiritual song he had heard whilst in America

Amazing GraceAmazing Grace• Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

• T'was Grace that taught...my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.How precious did that Grace appear...

the hour I first believed.

• Through many dangers, toils and snares...

we have already come.T'was Grace that brought us safe thus

far...and Grace will lead us home.

• The Lord has promised good to me...

His word my hope secures.He will my shield and portion be...

as long as life endures.• When we've been here ten

thousand years...bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise...

then when we've first begun.• Amazing Grace, how sweet the

sound,That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now, I see.