The identity of African people in America was marked by a systematic erasure of culture as they were forced to conform to the standards of their masters. Often, there wasn’t room for elements of traditional African culture to continue. However, music was one of the main ways that African slaves were able to communicate with each other, tell their traditional stories, and keep their culture alive. Their use of music began in the form of work songs, used to boost morale among working slaves, and then with spirituals, which had religious themes. With the end of slavery, an entire subculture emerged in the form of blues music, which became a marker of black southern identity, and eventually a large part of the identity of the south as a whole. Music, perhaps most significantly with the blues, was the ultimate way for black people to peacefully protest their forced assimilation to white culture, and reinforce their black identity.
Hundreds of thousands of slaves were brought to the US between the 17th and 19th centuries, bringing customs of music with them. Many of their daily activities were done in association with song, including work and worship. Many of their songs included calls and chants, to keep the entire group of people engaged and united. Colonists found these performances to be distracting, so the slaves were often forced to perform their songs in seclusion. They would find secret meeting places, like barns, and have ceremonies including religion, oral histories, and songs. These meeting places were the breeding ground for discussion about their rights, and the steps they could take to fight injustice. Music gave them a way to discuss these ideas in a form of code.
Since slaves were prohibited from speaking their native languages, song was one of the only ways they were able to keep a part of their culture alive. In addition, song can be seen as extremely political. In his book, Frederick Douglass (1855) states that African-American songs “told a tale which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension.” He goes on to say that “Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.” While describing his own plight, Douglass felt compelled to describe the influence of music on his community. He suggests the religious nature of many slave songs, saying that they were all prayers. Even though when the book was written the slaves had not been emancipated, Douglass had hope that the power of music would be enough to change their circumstances.
Religion was a major catalyst for the use of song for African-Americans. In the 18th century, free African-Americans began to form religious groups separate from white people, including the Methodists and Baptists. In addition to traditional African songs, the added element of religion brought Christian undertones to their music. Forms of religious song emerged in secret church meetings, in which slaves were able to feel connected to their heritage and religion. The traditional call and chant music of African songs was continued to an even bigger extent, and came to the foreground of all religious music. Usually, a leader would chant, and the community would reply in unison.
After emancipation, African-American music began to diffuse into American culture at large. In 1871, John Wesley Work Jr. began to collect traditional African-American songs, as well as creating a chorus with the goal of introducing these songs to the wider public. These songs were called “spirituals,” a type of song associated with black religion in the South. Spirituals are a combination of traditional African song and European song, demonstrating the converging culture that occured. Spirituals, although rooted in religion, were also known to have an element of protest to them. In many case, they would serve as metaphors for freedom. The traditional spiritual “Go Down Moses” describes events in the Old Testament of the bible, but also is linked to modern struggles. When a performer would sing “let my people go” it was a direct call to the slave masters. “Israel” represents the African-American slaves while “Egypt” and Pharaoh” represent the slavemaster. Going “down” to Egypt was akin to going down the Mississippi River to even worse conditions for slaves. Obviously, the slaves saw their plight as similar to the Israelites in the bible who would eventually be let free from the grips of slavery. By referring to their masters as being similar to the immoral Egyptians demonstrates the protesting power of this type of music.
Another subgenre of this type of music was emancipation songs, which used strong imagery to convey the feeling of being liberated from the grips of slavery. In a way, this allowed black people to express their feelings to a white audience that could not be heard otherwise. An example of this is the 1878 song “De day I as sot free!” written and performed by Sam Lucas, an African-American man born to freed black parents. He begins his song with a plea saying, “white folks all lend me your attention.” The elderly narrator of the song continues to explain the effect the Emancipation Proclamation had on him and his family. Lucas’s song was significant because unlike many songs of the era, this refused to sentimentalize slavery. Instead, he tells the harsh reality, and demands that people listen, understand, and make changes. Therefore, he is protesting the South’s attempt to invalidate the very real influence of slavery, even after it ended. These types of songs perpetuated a new form of storytelling in song, and led to the development of a new genre.
The different types of music performed by black people culminated in the development of blues music, a genre that brought African-American narratives to the forefront of culture. Using traditional work songs, African-Americans began to sing them in new styles. Elements of the blues include repeated lines, hollers, and a similar chord progression with flat notes. Blues songs with overarchingly used to highlight social injustices in American society.
The first appearance of the blues was shortly after the Emancipation Act of 1863 in juke joints around the US. Juke joints were bars with music and a place for dancing, which began as a place for blacks to socialize during slavery. After emancipation, they continued as places for black people to convene and discuss their struggles, and the problems they faced in society. Blues marked a change from group to individual performance, representing the newly found freedom of black people, and their ability to create their own identities after decades of systemic assimilation. Blues was also a significant shift because it focused on purely secular subjects, and gave a voice to those who had not been heard before.
One often silenced groups was the convicts of the US, which consisted of a overwhelmingly African-American population. Prison laborers subjected to convict leasing often sang about their struggles, and gave a silent population a voice. In the 1939 song “Take dis Hammer” sung by John Brown, the narrator complains of the tough prison works, and even boldly says he will seek to escape. These songs would often be performed while convicts worked long hours, and gave them hope that one day they would be able to live a life that consisted of freedom.
The blues was also a significant movement for the plight of women. During the First World War, women took over the music scene while the men fought in the war. The first true blues hit was performed by a woman, Mamie Smith. In fact, most of the blues hits of the 1920s were popularized by women. In Angela Davis’s book Blues Legacies and Black Feminism, she describes how one of the biggest deviations of other types of music of the day was blues tendency to have sexual lyrics. The blues gave music expression to freed women, allowing them autonomy over the sexual relationships in which they entered. Female African-American blues singers protested the limited confines of a patriarchal society by professing their own sexual freedom. African-American women were a group that had voices that were rarely heard, if ever. Blues music gave them an outlet to share their thoughts, most of which were seen as unworthy of being heard in a traditional context.
The music genres that were born as a result of African-American suffering, expression, triumph, and protest have become the sounds that have crafted individual identities for black people, and given them a voice. During the times of slavery, song was one of the main ways black people were able to stay connected to their African roots. As time went on, African-Americans used these roots to create a new mark on their society. They sung of freedom, and what they hoped the world would be, and their words were powerful. All types of African-American music, most notably blues, have been able to peacefully protest unjust conditions, and give a voice to the often silent.