African American spirituals played a key part in the development of a uniquely American 'Black' culture. Drawing together influences from European Christianity and from their African homelands, enslaved Americans created a musical form which continues to play its part in music across the globe. Songs like 'Michael, Roe the Boat Ashore' have become standards in many countries other than the USA.
Africa is where the story of spirituals really begins, with much of the fundamentals of the form coming across the Atlantic with the hundreds of thousands of brutally enslaved Africans during the 18th and 19th centuries. These people were deliberately dehumanised by their captors, and part of that process was cultural. Slaves were banned from speaking their native tongues and many of their traditional cultural practices, such as religion, were suppressed.
Traditions were kept alive, albeit often in improvised ways, at the informal and clandestine religious meetings held in out of the way places. These 'bush meetings' allowed people of African origins to continue to express religious feelings in traditional ways. Activities such as ring shouts, communal chanting and speaking in tongues were examples of the kind of traditional modes of expression which took place.
At the same time, the enslaved Africans were also coming under the influence of Christianity. In Christian, European style places of worship, the worshippers were compelled to sit in rows rather then stand freely, to dance or otherwise express themselves. Slaves were also prohibited from using musical instruments as part of their worship, as was common in Africa.
The Bible began to shape the kind of material with which the songs of the enslaved people dealt with, with Bible stories and hymns being re-worked into new forms. But these were not simply updated versions of old songs, they were a new musical form, the spiritual. Lyrically, many of the new songs made overt reference to Bible stories of oppression and liberation from bondage, such as Exodus and the Flight of Moses.
This usage of this kind of Biblical material was, of course, a direct reaction to being enslaved. Many enslaved Americans could see direct and figurative parallels with their situation in the New World and the Jews of the Old Testament in Egypt. While the new music was spiritual and an expression of religiosity, it was also about the hope of one day being freed from oppression.
Several traditions from Africa can still be detected in the way in which many Black Americans continue to worship. The call and response style of preaching is still common. Interestingly, this is also used in Gaelic speaking communities in the Highlands of Scotland too, with the influence of Scottish missionaries in American perhaps playing a part in the development of the spiritual.
The strong sense of collective worship which is exemplified by the singing of African American spirituals is a very powerful thing. As an expression of both religious faith and political defiance, this kind of music has a rich and beautiful history. The songs of liberation and hope that were created from the terrible crime of slavery are one of Black America's many great cultural and artistic gifts to the world.
Africa is where the story of spirituals really begins, with much of the fundamentals of the form coming across the Atlantic with the hundreds of thousands of brutally enslaved Africans during the 18th and 19th centuries. These people were deliberately dehumanised by their captors, and part of that process was cultural. Slaves were banned from speaking their native tongues and many of their traditional cultural practices, such as religion, were suppressed.
Traditions were kept alive, albeit often in improvised ways, at the informal and clandestine religious meetings held in out of the way places. These 'bush meetings' allowed people of African origins to continue to express religious feelings in traditional ways. Activities such as ring shouts, communal chanting and speaking in tongues were examples of the kind of traditional modes of expression which took place.
At the same time, the enslaved Africans were also coming under the influence of Christianity. In Christian, European style places of worship, the worshippers were compelled to sit in rows rather then stand freely, to dance or otherwise express themselves. Slaves were also prohibited from using musical instruments as part of their worship, as was common in Africa.
The Bible began to shape the kind of material with which the songs of the enslaved people dealt with, with Bible stories and hymns being re-worked into new forms. But these were not simply updated versions of old songs, they were a new musical form, the spiritual. Lyrically, many of the new songs made overt reference to Bible stories of oppression and liberation from bondage, such as Exodus and the Flight of Moses.
This usage of this kind of Biblical material was, of course, a direct reaction to being enslaved. Many enslaved Americans could see direct and figurative parallels with their situation in the New World and the Jews of the Old Testament in Egypt. While the new music was spiritual and an expression of religiosity, it was also about the hope of one day being freed from oppression.
Several traditions from Africa can still be detected in the way in which many Black Americans continue to worship. The call and response style of preaching is still common. Interestingly, this is also used in Gaelic speaking communities in the Highlands of Scotland too, with the influence of Scottish missionaries in American perhaps playing a part in the development of the spiritual.
The strong sense of collective worship which is exemplified by the singing of African American spirituals is a very powerful thing. As an expression of both religious faith and political defiance, this kind of music has a rich and beautiful history. The songs of liberation and hope that were created from the terrible crime of slavery are one of Black America's many great cultural and artistic gifts to the world.
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