Negro Spirituals

1
Negro Spirituals
Whitney Walker Courtny Highley Candace
Coble Taylor Madsen Sarah Mirahmadi
2

• Negro spirituals are folk songs that originated
  among enslaved Africans in America

3

• Spirituals were inspired by the religious hymns
  of the white revivalists and also shaped memories
  from traditional African memories

4

• some songs were used to translate messages that
  their masters were unable to understand

1. Abolitionist a person who demanded immediate
   emancipation of slaves
2. Drinking Gourd Big Dipper and the North Star
3. Heaven or Promised land Canada

5

• Most spirituals included references to people,
  places, or events in the bible.
• The black slaves expressed their hope that they
  would someday escape to their own promise land
  just as the Israelites had escaped to ancient
  Israel

6

• 1871 the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University,
  traveled throughout the United States and to
  England singing spirituals to raise money for
  their school

• In 1867 a collection of black music called Slave
  Song of the United States was published.

7
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
8
ChorusSwing low, sweet chariot,Comin' for to
carry me homeSwing 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,Comin' for to
carry me home. Repeat chorus If you get there
before I do,Comin' for to carry me home,Tell
all my friends I'm comin' too,Comin' for to
carry me home.
9
(No Transcript)
10

• Riding a chariot or train was the way used by
  fugitives running to a free country

• Swing low sweet chariot directly refers to the
  Underground Railroad

11

• Ripley was one of the stations of the underground
  railroad. This town was atop a hill, by Ohio
  River, Which is not easy to cross. To reach this
  place, fugitives had to wait for help coming from
  the hill. The words of these spirituals say, I
  looked over Jordan and what did I see/ Coming for
  to carry me home/ A band of Angels coming after
  me.

12
(No Transcript)
13
Go Down, Moses
14

• Go down, Moses was a popular slave song and was
  usually sang during their times of rest and
  prayer
• It is also said to have been sung by
  abolitionists to signal escape or rebellion.

15

• The lyrics use biblical imagery expressing the
  desire for a release from bondage
• The opening lines tell Moses to go deep into
  Egypt, the land of the oppressors
• In the song Egypt symbolizes the Slave States

16

• Harriet Tubman signifies Moses because she went
  down South 19 times and led more than 300 black
  slaves to freedom