Have you ever heard an African American spiritual song?\u00a0 Do you know what one is?\u00a0 African American spirituals are religious songs that were created and sung by enslaved Africans in the United States.\u00a0 (You may also hear this type of song called a ‘Negro spiritual.’\u00a0 Negro is a term that today many people find offensive, but it was a term used often in the past to describe people of African origin.)\u00a0 African American spirituals are religious songs, but when they were created they were also a form of protest toward assimilation* to white American culture.\u00a0\u00a0 African American spirituals had a very important place in society when they were created and an importance place in American history now.<\/p>\n
During the time of slavery in the United States, there were efforts to distance Africans from their native cultures and to convert African slaves to Christianity.\u00a0\u00a0 Slaves were not allowed to speak their native languages and they were often forced to convert to Christianity.\u00a0 Even though they were prohibited to practice their own religion and speak their native languages slaves tried to (and did) meet in secret where they began to create\u00a0 spiritual songs that they could then sing in English in the fields as they worked. Some of the musical elements of the African American spirituals can be traced back to origins in Africa, but African American spirituals are a musical form that is considered indigenous** to the slavery experience of Africans and and their descendants in the United States.\u00a0 Enslaved Africans who were forced to convert to Christianity in other parts of the world, such as in the Caribbean and South America, did not create this same form of music.<\/p>\n
African American spirituals were created, not by just one person but groups of people, during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in the United States.\u00a0 Of course these songs didn’t stop to be sung when slavery ended in the United States (officially in 1865); they were passed down by families, in homes, at work in the fields, and in churches since the time these songs were first created.\u00a0 In addition to a spiritual message many people believe these songs also contain messages for escapes slaves.\u00a0 These message may have been meant to help escapees*** avoid capture and help them make their way to freedom.\u00a0 For example the song “Wade in the Water” sends the message to escapees that they should leave dry land and go to the water to walk to freedom in order to avoid being tracked by dogs.<\/p>\n