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"I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. At least, such is my experience."
From this quote, I interpreted that Douglass was saying how shocked he was that white people in the north thought slave songs meant the slaves were happy. Douglass points out that the songs are a way to feel better, therefore the are used when a slave is sad, mad, etc. He draws a comparison to a man trapped on an islands songs of solitude being similar to spirituals, thus proving his point; slaves don't sing when they are happy
Spirituals (a type of slave song) is a genre of music that developed from the suffering of Slaves. They are a type of religious folksong. The term spiritual is from the King James Bible translation of Ephesians 5:19.
The Slave population in the colonies were introduced to Christianity. The religion took a while in the beginning to gain popularity among the slaves, however they were interested in the Biblical stories parallel to their lives. The first spirituals retold those narratives. They first served as a way for the slave community to express their new faith, sufferings, and wishes.
They are typically sung in a call response form. The leader improvises a line of song and the chorus singers provide a solid refrain. Some sound sorrowful other sound more upbeat.
Spirituals have many purposes.
The song would help direct slave in the area and direction they would need to go in code.
Chorus: Wade in the Water, wade in the water children.
Wade in the Water. God’s gonna trouble the water.
Who are those children all dressed in Red?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones that Moses led.
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Chorus
Who are those children all dressed in White?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones of the Israelites.
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Chorus
Who are those children all dressed in Blue?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones that made it through.
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Chorus
Harriet Tubman used “Wade in the Water” to tell slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen and make it through. This is an example of a map song, where directions are coded into the lyrics.
Harriet was one of the most famous conductors of the underground railroad. She used these songs as a code to help slaves escape, just like many other conductors did. The songs allowed slaves to communicate without their masters being aware of their intentions.
They evolved into many different branches or genres of music listened to today. Such as :
http://www.harriet-tubman.org/underground-railroad-secret-codes/
http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/
file:///home/chronos/u-a51374610ef61e19dea510e20514d3338e1acd01/Downloads/fdouglass.pdf
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/