Excerpts from a sermon, interspersed
with spirituals
By Raymond G. Manker, Minister
Unitarian Church of Phoenix
To understand the
traditional
Spirituals
it is
necessary to know something of the cultural millieu out of
which
we need to look at the history of the cultures in which
they arose.…
It wasn't a single uniform culture, but the frequent transfer
and sale of slave, and even more important, the influence of religion,
allowed slaves in the South to develop and share ideas and values.
When we look at spirituals, it helps to keep in mind that it was
was common for slaves to think
It makes quite a difference when
we find that
slaves
thought of the future life
of the "future life" as here on earth,
and heaven
was
not some other-worldly place, but wherever
they
would be free from the bonds of slavery. When
slaves sang of heaven they
usually had in mind
probably had in mind the homelands of their immediate ancestors.
In 1820, the American Colonization Society founded settlements
on the Pepper Coast of West Africa as a place where slaves would
be repatriated. (By this time, both the US and Britain forbade
importation of new slaves from Africa. When slave ships were captured
(and this was a frequent occurance), it was often difficult to
return the captives to their original homes. They ended up in
Liberia, as the A.C.S called their new African colony. The A.C.S also
assisted freed black slaves to emigrate to Liberia.) After 1820,
references to heaven may also include ideas of
Liberia.
when it became obvious that their masters were not going to free
them and send them to Liberia,
Of course, relatively few slaves were ever manumitted, so for many
in the American South,
heaven became situated to the north,
in the northern states or in Canada, to which, if they were lucky,
they might someday escape.
Miles Mark Fisher, in his book,
Negro Slave Songs in the United States, flatly states,
"Negroes did not sing other-worldly songs like white people, or,
if they did, their meaning expressed frustrated this-worldly desires."
Frederick Douglass,
who famously escaped slavery
and who later was U.S. Minister to Haiti, in his autobiography,
mentions that the spirituals often had double meanings which escaped
the notice of the slave masters because of the religious terminology
used.
He also wrote that they 'told a take of woe which was ... beyond'
our feeble comprehension; and that 'every tone was a testimony against
slavery and a prayer to God for deliverence from chains.'
At times the songs slaves sang were their
We can imagine that subtle changes in works could be a
means of spreading
word of a secret meeting, sometimes even a revolt. Of course the
slaves had to be careful that while the message got to those for
whom it was intended, that it did not get to the slave masters.
They had the advantage that they were regarded as inferior.
Experienced overseers must have known that the slave population was
as intelligent as their exploiters, but human nature, and perhaps
a sense of guilt, kept many of them from giving the slaves credit.
If the words of songs could bear two meanings, the white tendency
seems to have been to assume the most naive interpretation.
The spirituals, virtually without exception, tell of the slaves' desire for freedom.
Go Down, Moses will illustrate this point.
This spiritual
was actually censored by the slave owners
Some slave-owners were aware enough to forbid its singing,
because it was so obvious
in its message. Originally sung about 1790, it expressed the
Negroes'
local slaves's
appreciation of Bishop Francis Asbury of the Methodist Episcopal
Church (Moses) who fought for an anti-slavery ruling for the ME
Church and who travelled through the south urging slave owners to
free their slaves. Later is was used to refer to Harriet Tubman,
an escaped slave,
who ran the famous
the best-known conductor of the
"Underground Railroad" which
brought
so many
a trickle of
slaves to freedom in the north.
"Ol' Pharoah", of course, was a common designation for "Ol' Massa".
This illustrated how kindly
slaves felt toward their master
If you have ever fallen for the old "the darkies happily singing in the
fields" narrative, this should help dispel it
— "Ol' Pharoah!"
WITH THIS IN MIND, LET US SING GO DOWN, MOSES.
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, is a good example of slaves' desire
for reincarnation in Africa. "Chariot" was a French sled-like vehicle
used to transport tobacco in the Carolinas, and "home", of course,
was Africa. That a band of angels were coming
illustrates the
lack of an other-worldly concept of death.
is an expression of frustration and desparation and a prayer
for deliverance. "If you get there
before I do" poignantly expresses that prayer, which was
only a vain hope as the singers followed along behind the sled.
SING SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT.
Some white settlers on the frontiers allowed their slaves
to attend church with them, and sometimes even allowed them to
have their own services in the church. But the older Eastern areas usually
would not tolerate
what they saw as excessive
emotionalism in church. And in many places whites would not allow
people of color even
to enter the church, except to clean it.
O Mary, Don't You Weep came out of a reaction to this
unkind and unjust
exclusion
God would punish the slave owners for
this—"Pharoah's army got drowned."
The
refusal to allow
non-whites to use the church
encouraged the slave
was just one more impetus for slave
to escape north to "heaven". One
verse states "When I get to Heaven" (that's up north), "Goin' to
sing and shout (just as they did in their praise meetings),
"nobody there for to turn me out". Another verse hints at a
possible rebellion, or hope for one, because of this exclusion.
"Some dark night, 'bout 12 o'clock, this old world's gonna
reel and rock!"
SING OH MARY, DON'T YOU WEEP.
Deep River originated in 1825 in Guilford County, North
Carolina, during the height of the efforts to get slave owners to
free their slaves and send them back to Africa. It is recorded in
the records of the Quaker Meeting there that a
slave
told one of the Quakers working on the project, that he wanted to
"cross over" to Africa, the home of the Camp Meetings. "Deep
River",
of course
in this interpretation
was the Atlantic Ocean which separated them
from "home".
SING DEEP RIVER.
I remember singing Steal Away at Youth Meetings ... many years
ago when were
Many of us remember singing
Steal Away in church. We
were all being exhorted
to "Steal Away to Jesus.".
You may have a
different take on the hymn when you know
that its author was none other than Nat Turner, who led the great
slave rebellion of 1831.… Steal Away was Nat Turner's
call to rebellion.… it means to steal away "to freedom".
Turner felt that God had called him to lead this revolt: "My
Lord, he calls me..." "I hain't got long to stay here" shows his
confidence that he would succeed,
or die trying.
The meeting place
was "Jerusalem". The word Jerusalem was never used in a
Spirituals prior to Nat Turner's revolt.…
Can't you just imagine the excitement and the superior
feeling—the feeling of putting something over on the slave
master for a
change,
which these poor slaves must have felt when they sang within
hearing of the master,
Singing of the song seems to have been a signal for the plotters
to meet and discuss plans for resistance and rebellion. But to sing
"Pharoah's army got drowned," or
"Steal Away... I ain't got long to stay here" must have been
very satisfying in its own right.
SING STEAL AWAY.
A
jolly,
joyful song, "I got shoes", which all like to hear and sing,
also carries a delayed punch. "I got a shoe, you got a shoe,
all God's chilluns got shoes."
Negro
Most
slaves did not have shoes!
Shoes were symbols of freedom! "All God's chillun got shoes." "When I
get to heaven, I'm going to put on my shoes and tromp all over
God's heaven." (When I am free in the the north I will have
shoes.) Notice it said "when" I get to leave, not "if", but "when".
They were going to be free!!!
Slave owners able to interpret the message would have been very worried.
SING I GOT SHOES.
Few of the spirituals are so open in their true meaning as in "Follow the Drinking Gourd". The drinking gourd was the dipper from which the slaves in the fields got their water. But the drinking gourd was also seen at night—the big dipper which pointed to the North Star. "Follow the drinking gourd." (Follow the North Star.) "For the Old Man is awaiting for to carry you to freedom, follow the drinking gourd." ... the verse was virtually a road map to freedom:
"When the sun comes back and first quail calls," (at dawn)
"Follow the drinking gourd." (go north)"Now the river bank'll make a might good road,
The dead trees will show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot, travelin' on,
Follow the drinkin' gourd.Now the river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinkin' gourd.
There's another river on the other side,
Follow the drinkin' gourd."
SING FOLLOW THE DRINKIN' GOURD.
The Spirituals, when seen in this light, become exciting, and the authors and those who sang them no longer are passive slaves, but proud men, eager for freedom, consistently hoping, planning to gain their freedom. And while they rightly feared their masters, their contempt for the masters shows through their songs.. No longer are the spirituals "mere spirituals". They are the record of the slaves' cry for freedom, of their consuming passion for freedom. They are a heritage which should stir the heart of every person who loves freedom.
Notes: Other music used in this service included: