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A silent slave is not liked by masters or overseers. The masters made slaves sing so that they always knew what the slave was doing and where they were. This may account for the almost constant singing heard in the southern states. These songs were mainly sung in times of sadness and exhaustion, mainly to keep a slaves mind off of the task at hand.
As Africans in America, the enslaved retained many customs of the past, which remained relevant after the abolition of slavery. While working long hours in the cotton and tobacco fields or clearing brush, husking and grinding corn, cutting wood, rowing boats, and laying railroad tracks, and as stevedores and fishermen, they sang work songs to pass the time, relieve boredom, and coordinate the ...
African-American work songs originally developed in the era of slavery, between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Because they were part of an almost entirely oral culture, they had no fixed form and only began to be recorded as the era of slavery came to an end after 1865.
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Jul 24, 2023 · The slave call-and-response melodies were adapted to spirituals, field hollers and work songs, becoming a cultural influence on every aspect of American music today. A moan or groan in the music expressed the pain, an emotional expression communicating the real story, a cry for freedom and a better way of life.
Learn about the history and features of African American work songs, which originated in the era of slavery and developed from oral traditions of agricultural and spiritual work songs. Discover how work songs foster dialogue, expression, and collaboration among slaves and their descendants.
“It’s a long John”: Traditional African-American Work Songs . Spirituals and work songs, rooted in both the slavery era and the West African societies from which most African-American slaves were originally taken, provided cultural sustenance to African Americans in the midst of intense racial oppression.
