Kinki
University
Slave
English
Songs:
Codes
Konrad
Abstract
When
slaves were forcibly
live, work,
and die in servitude,
their
condition;
of a desire
for example,
for freedom
tested
their
guage
and coded language.
Keywords:
enslavement.
slave, overt
secret
and sang
others
covertly
covert
Bayer
homes
them
their
feelings.
songs
in Africa
their
Slaves
and brought
culture.
Africans
This
still
used a variety
which encouraged
of impending
ambiguous
their
to North
included
use songs
of means
escape
danger.
and not endanger
resistance,
2010
of Resistance
with
oppression.
meetings,
to warn
To resist
resistance,
from their
to express
and to resist
No. 6 August
Sidney
they brought
which had been used for generations
test, for social commentary,
taken
Journal
to protest
and sabotage.
lives they would
to
and dance,
to criticize,
They both overtly
language,
music
America
to pro-
and resist
Slaves
sang
and covertly
pro-
use ambiguous
lan-
coded language
奴隷 の歌:抵 抗 の暗号
コ ンラ ッ ド
要旨
シ ドニ ー
ベ イ ヤー
ア フ リカ か ら人 々が 奴 隷 と して北 米 に強 制 的 に連 行 され 、生 活 ・労 働 し、 死 を迎 え る よ う強 い られ た 時 、
彼 ら は 自分 た ちの 文 化 を 北 米 に持 ち込 ん だ 。 この 中 に は彼 らの 感 情 を 表 現 す べ く何 世 代 に も渡 って 用 い られ た
音 楽 や ダ ンス も含 まれ る。 ア フ リカ人 た ちは 歌 を 用 い て 、 社 会 を 啓 蒙 す るた め の 批 判 ・抵 抗 を 試 み 、 抑 圧 に対
して 反 抗 した 。 彼 ら は 自分 の 置 か れ た 状 況 に立 ち向 か い 抵 抗 す るた め 様 々な 手 段 を 用 い た 。 例 え ば 、 逃 亡 や サ
ボ ター ジ ュを 奨 励 す るた め の 秘 密 裏 の 会 合 、 歌 、 な どで あ る。 彼 らは 明 示 的 に あ るい は秘 密 裏 に奴 隷 制 に 対 し
て 抵 抗 した 。 奴 隷 た ち は 自由 へ の 願 望 を こあ て 、 また 差 し迫 る危 険 を 仲 間 に知 らせ るた め に歌 った 。 抵 抗 を 秘
密 裏 に行 い 自分 た ちの 生 命 を 危 険 に さ ら さな い よ うに 、 彼 ら は曖 昧 な 言 葉 や 暗 号 化 され た 言 葉 を 用 い た 。
キ ー ワー ド
奴 隷 制 、 明 示 的 な 抵 抗 、 秘 密 裏 の 抵 抗 、 曖 昧 な 言 葉 、 暗 号 化 され た 言 葉
Kinki
University
When they were brought
English
Journal
No. 6
to North America, slaves carried with them a highly
developed, complex culture. Africans express their culture through
Each important
music and dance.
event in a village is accompanied by music and dance. J. H. Kwabena
Nketia (1974), in his book, The Music of Africa, writes that,
In traditional
African societies, music making is generally organized as a social
event. Public performances,
therefore, take place on social occasions—that
occasions when members of a group or a community
joyment of leisure, for recreational
come together
is, on
for the en-
activities, or for the performance
of a rite,
ceremony, festival, or any kind of collective activity, such as building bridges,
clearing paths, going on a search party, or putting
industrialized
Slaves transported
out fires—activities
societies, might be assigned to specialized agencies. (p. 21)
this communal aspect of African culture to North America. Once
there, the music of slaves evolved into slave songs, also called spirituals.
are the personal
expressions
Slave songs
of a forcibly displaced people. In songs they expressed
their hopes and dreams, their fears and complaints.
that "spirituals
that, in
Miles Mark Fisher (1990) attests
have reflected the social conditions under which Negroes were forced
to live" (p. 189). Slaves continued to use music in the same way as their African forebears. They sang of their everyday
They recreated
lives: of work, love, marriage,
a semblance of their African communities,
music to covertly resist the domineering
slave masters
The focus of this paper is to demonstrate
death, and God.
and above all they used
and the cruel drivers.
how when Africans
were forcibly
brought to the Americas, they brought many aspects of their respective cultures, especially techniques
to resist and protest the conditions
aspects slaves retained—such
mentary—evolved
of slavery. The African cultural
as using songs to resist, to protest,
to suit their particular
and for social com-
needs during the period of slavery in the
United States. Slaves used songs in the same way their ancestors
used the same techniques in order to communicate
did in Africa: they
both overtly and covertly.
Method
The primary
sociological.
corded
primary
The
analytic
ideas
and
have
secondary
methods
been
applied
developed
sources.
110
for this
from
paper
are
a combination
textual,
historical,
of printed
and
and
re-
Slave Songs:
Codes of Resistance
(Bayer)
Discussion
Slave Resistance
Resistance was expressed in the songs using forms of protest such as criticism,
complaint,
and ridicule. Slaves could not openly resist the slave system;
therefore,
they developed covert methods to express their opposition to it. The principle methods
they used were various ways of obfuscating
ambiguous
language,
and veiled meaning.
pseudonymous
the meanings
language,
of the songs; for example,
coded language,
symbolic meaning,
They also used songs to sabotage the running
economy by encouraging
their compatriots
of the plantation
to escape from slavery and by helping
them to not get caught stealing.
Secret
meetings.
African
slaves continued
which Fisher (1990) called "an African heritage"
the tradition
of secret meetings,
(p. 76). It was a means of retaining
African customs: "In Africa from Sierra Leone to the Cameroons secret meetings constituted
powerful
political,
legal, and economic units for the separate
males and females" (p. 77). The meetings were an important
training
of
means for slaves to com-
municate with each other, to provide support, and to provide solace for each other. In
other words secret meetings helped them to recreate a sense of community.
Music
played a vital role in the secret meetings. As Fisher suggests, the meetings "were convened in song" (p. 66). In Africa the meetings were a means of educating
people. Fisher asserts that
the young
"The chief concern of African music was to recite the his-
tory of the people" (p. 1). This continued in North America in an even more thorough
degree: "the institution
of the African cult rather than the home (monogamy was not
too common) was relied upon by adult Negroes to train their children to take every
step of life"
Christianity
(p. 77). Therefore,
the secret meetings
also educated
they chose to believe in, as opposed to that presented
slaves in the
to them in white
churches, where "Sermons urging slaves to be obedient and docile were repeated
nauseam"
(Raboteau,
1980, p. 213). The secret meetings
were also "protests
ad
against
slavery" (Fisher, 1990, p. 32).
Attending
a secret meeting constituted
eral, and to individual
masters
Slave Religion, affirms that
in particular.
an affront to the slave system in genAlbert J. Raboteau
(1980) in his book,
"The religious meetings in the quarters,
groves, and `hush
harbors'
were themselves frequently
acts of rebellion against the proscriptions
master"
(p. 318). Slaves were severely punished if caught. A woman named "Charlotte
Martin asserted that `her oldest brother
of the
was whipped to death for taking part in one
111
Kinki
University
English
of the religious ceremonies' "(qtd. in Raboteau,
Journal
No. 6
1980, p. 215). The whites obviously un-
derstood the danger of slaves meeting secretly. In short, slaves "knew that their secret
meetings were prohibited by law"; however, this may have been one of a number of aspects that attracted
them to the meetings, because of a desire to resist the conditions
of slavery in any way within their means, even if it was covertly. Secret meetings provided an outlet for slaves to protest their condition.
Songs as overt and covert resistance.
sung on the plantation
while the slaves worked. In some cases they were able to com-
plain in front of their masters'
valve of their complaining
example of a complaint
The songs sung in the meetings were also
without suffering the lash. The songs were "the safety
and revolt against oppression"
(Fisher, 1990, p. 12). A good
is the song "Nobody know de trouble I see":
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Glory, hallelujah!
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Glory, hallelujah!
Sometimes I'm up Sometimes I'm down, Oh, yes, Lord;
Sometimes I'm almost to de groun' Oh, yes, Lord.
Altho' you see me goin' `long so, Oh, yes, Lord;
I have my trials here below, Oh, yes, Lord.
Oh! Nobody knows de trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Glory, hallelujah!1 (Johnson,
1969 ii, pp. 34-36)
This was an expression of all the trouble experienced as a slave: "It was trouble with
`
maussa,' trouble with the driver ... ," trouble with the food and the slave quarters
(Fisher, 1990, p. 13). The same songs were often used as work songs. Although
schol-
ars have made a distinction between the various uses of the songs, they are all related
to spirituals.
primarily
Lawrence Levine (1993) affirms that, "They were not sung solely or even
in churches or praise houses but were used as rowing songs, field songs,
work songs, and social songs" (p. 99). Fisher, extending
states that, "It has been admitted
this thought
into the blues,
that blues are woven from the same stuff as work
songs, love songs, and so forth. They are all, in fact, developments from spirituals"
188). The word "spiritual"
ferred to songs that
1
Sam Cooke sings
did not necessarily
moved the spirit.
a soul version
refer to religious
The term
of this song on his album
112
"spiritual"
Night Beat.
(p.
songs: The word rewas used mainly
by
Slave Songs:
African Americans
Codes of Resistance
(Bayer)
of South Carolina and Georgia. However, in other areas, such as
New Jersey, different words are used; for example, slave hymns, plantations
anthems (Parrish,
songs, or
1992, p. xxvii).
Unlike "Nobody know de trouble I see," which is a slightly veiled complaint,
some songs were open complaints against the system, such as the following work song
which demonstrates
an open complaint against a particular
person, possible a master
or driver named Henry Clay:
Heave away, heave away!
I'd rather court a yellow gal than work for Henry Clay.
Heave away, heave away!
Yellow gal, I want to go,
I'd rather court a yellow gal than work for Henry Clay.
Heave away, heave away!
Yellow gal, I want to go. (Allen, 1867, p. 61)
Another song complains against the various authority
figures of the plantation
with
the following:
1. Done wid driber's dribin',
Done wid driber's dribin',
Done wid driber's dribin',
Roll, Jordan,
roll.
2. Done wid massa's hollerin',
3. Done wid missus'scoldin'.
(Allen, 1867, p. 45)
Perhaps some slaves did not care who heard their complaints in their songs, as this excerpt from a sarcastic mid-nineteenth
century article by a racist pro-slavery
man dem-
onstrates:
Massa an Misse promised me
When they died they'd set me free;
Massa an Misse dead an' gone.
Here's old Sambo hillin'-up corn! (Kinnard,
1977, p. 26)
One suspects the author may have made up this "spiritual";
that whites were aware of slaves' complaints
In criticizing their treatment,
ligious language;
Christianity
for example,
however, it demonstrates
against slavery.
slaves disguised the meaning of some songs in re-
they criticized
the whites'
in the song "the Hypocrite and the Concubine":
113
hypocritical
stance
on
Kinki
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Journal
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Hypocrite and the concubine,
Livin' among the swine,
They run to God with the lips and tongue,
And leave all the heart behind.
Aunty, did you hear when Jesus rose?
Did you hear when Jesus rose?
Aunty, did you hear when Jesus rose?
He rose and he `scend on high. (Allen, 1867, p. 70)
On the surface the song refers to Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son; however, it refers on a deeper level to slaveholders
behave accordingly
who claim to be Christians
yet do not
(Fisher, 1990, p. 166).
An example of a song which uses ridicule to criticize whites comes from Harriet
Jacobs'
(2002) slave narrative,
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. During Christmas
slaves would go door to door to beg for contributions
for a Christmas
party:
Not a door is left unvisited where there is the least chance of obtaining
a penny
or a glass of rum. They do not drink while they are out, but carry the rum
home in jugs, to have a carousal. These Christmas
donations frequently
amount
to twenty or thirty dollars. It is seldom that any white man or child refuses to
give them a trifle. If he does, they regale his ears with the following song:—
Poor massa, so dey say;
Down in de heel, so dey say;
Got no money, so dey say;
Not one shillin, so dey say;
God A' mighty bress you, so dey say. (p. 573)
Songs were used in a similar way in Africa; for example, the song by the griot Mazo
dan Alalo, whose song about Jean Boudot was "something
gestion of absurdity
and mockery ..."
of the implied insult, a sug-
(as cited in Hale, 1998, p. 33).
Songs of Desire & Songs of Warning
Songs expressing
a desire for freedom.
Fisher (1990) suggests
song called "wish songs," the meanings of which are veiled expressions
freedom. In referring
tion in Liberia—the
to slaves' wish to help their compatriots
a category
of
of a desire for
struggle for a constitu-
country created by the US for ex-slaves to colonize—he suggests
that, "It was necessary
for their safety that the songs of that `wish' should be veiled"
114
Slave Songs:
Codes of Resistance
(Bayer)
(Fisher, 1990, p. 55). The veiled meaning was like a code used between slaves, and by
"
saying something which their masters or overseers did not understand" they were
united in fellowship (Fisher, 1990, p. 56). Even without the words, the music alone was
a message of hope for slaves; for example, an ex-slave from South Carolina named
William Sinclair ... claimed that when slave owners forbade the slave to sing
"O
ne of these days I shall be free/ When Christ the Lord shall set me free," they
"h
oodwinked the master class by humming the music of this particular song,
while the words echoed and reechoed deep down in their hearts
greater
effect than if they had been spoken. (Raboteau,
with perhaps
1980, p. 249)
The use of a secret language helped the slaves recreate a sense of community.
the songs helped them endure the hardships
sermons,
prayers,
of slavery:
"In the prayer meetings,
the
and songs, when the Spirit started
moving the congregation
to
shout, clap, and dance, the slaves enjoyed community
formed their individual sorrows"
vitally important
(Raboteau,
for the community.
displaced, disenfranchised,
community,
and fellowship which trans-
1980, p. 318). The songs they sang were
They were the connective tissue which joined the
disinherited,
socially dead Africans into a new, supportive
providing a renewed sense of identity, and, essentially,
vive in horribly
Singing
adverse conditions.2 A sense of community
helping them sur-
was of invaluable impor-
tance to the slaves: " Prayer, preaching, song, communal support, and especially
`f
eeling the spirit' refreshed the slaves and consoled them in their times of distress" (p.
218). In short, the songs provided solace for a weary people.
Songs encouraging
sabotage
the functioning
sabotage.
Songs with veiled meaning could also be used to
of the plantation;
for example, some spirituals
encouraged
slaves to run away. Frederick Douglass stated that the song "Run to Jesus, Shun the
Danger"
"first suggested
to him the thought
of escaping from slavery"
(as cited in
Fisher, 1990, p. 108).
I thought
I heard them say
There were lions in the way;
I don't expect to stay
Much longer here.
2
Orlando Patterson (1982), in his book Slavery and Social Death, defines slavery as "the permanent, violent
domination of natally alienated and generally dishonored persons" (p. 13). He also suggests that "The initial response in almost all slaveholding societies was to define the slave as a socially dead person" (p. 38). The
concepts of natal alienation and social death are intimately connected.
115
Kinki
Run to Jesus,
I don't
Much
Another
University
English
Journal
No. 6
shun the danger.
expect to stay
longer
song that
here. (Raboteau,
1980, p. 247)
had the same meaning
of Canaan";
however,
for others
these songs,
and the reason
for Douglass
was "I am bound
this song had only its overt meaning.
we are drawn
to them,
is their
openness
for the land
The wealth
to multiple
of
inter-
pretations.
Songs
encouraging
escape.
Songs to do with freedom
of freedom
nization"
in Heaven
after
emancipation,
from
and their
meanings
slavery
in three
(Thurman,
of benefiting
p. 111). In the end all three
life and freedom
was a predominant
can be interpreted
after death
tives in the expectancy
Escape
often
ways:
theme
"The otherworldly
1975, p. 25), "their
desire
from
hopes for African
to free themselves
residence
of slave songs.
by becoming
in free territories"
(Fisher,
boil down to a desire for freedom:
"freedom
had synonymous
(Lincoln,
2001, p. 370). The song "Swing
terpreted
in multiple
Low, Sweet
meaning
Chariot,"
to the enslaved
for instance,
hope"
colo"fugi1990,
from
..."
can be in-
ways:
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming
for to carry
me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming
I looked
for to carry
over Jordan,
Coming
If you get there
Coming
coming
before
I'm sometimes
Coming
after
me,
me home.
I do,
for to carry
me home
I'm coming
for to carry
up, I'm sometimes
for to carry
for to carry
too,
me home.
down,
me home?
But still my soul feels heavenly
Coming
did I see,
me home?
for to carry
Tell all my friends
Coming
and what
for to carry
A band of angels
Coming
me home.
bound,
me home.3 (Work,
3 The Fairfield Four perform a gospel arrangement
Zone.
116
1998, p. 152)
of this spiritual
on their album Standing In The Safety
Slave Songs:
Home can be interpreted
tories.
as heaven,
Home for the slave—be
Africa—was
synonymous
the slave master
died, "Thank
between
death
upon
would
nostalgia
(Raboteau,
that
"African
free them
for freedom
eventually,
slaves in many
to return
for the homeland
for
a barrier
the Canadian
(1990) states
the singer
one way or another
to Africa
bor-
feels
his or her
in another
way
areas of the new world were convinced
to Africa.
but upon
home
represents
to act. Fisher
and return
to
when his master
(p. 25). Even though
Death
in free terri-
of slaves,
one slave as saying
freedom"
which is freedom.
a firm
This notion
religious
was based
belief
not simply
in reincarnation"
1980, p. 32).
Some songs also support
called "shout,
biblical
in the opinion
Ocean, the Ohio River,
desire
he or she knows
soul is bound for heaven,
that
the Atlantic
the necessary
were the same because
and as freedom
sense or in the sense of return
However,
(1980) quotes
was the first step toward
sometimes,
in Africa,
gone home to hell" (p. 297). The Jordan
the slave and freedom:
depressed
(Bayer)
it in the otherworldly
was hell. Raboteau
God, massa
"Jordan
as freedom
with freedom.
der, or even developing
that
Codes of Resistance
Daniel"
Daniel),
sabotage
or "Move, Daniel"
in the form of stealing.
is a "sung directive
on how to elude the master
from the smokehouse"
(Rosenbaum,
Leader:
Move, Daniel,
move, Daniel
Move, Daniel,
move
Leader
and basers:
Daniel
Leader:
Move, Daniel,
move, Daniel
Leader
and basers:
Daniel
Leader:
Move, Daniel,
move, Daniel
Leader
and basers:
Daniel
Chorus:
Oh, Lord, pray,
Oh, Lord,
sinner
sinner,
come,
gone to hell.
117
to a slave, Daniel
who was pursuing
1992, p. xviii).
The ring shout
him for stealing
song
(not the
meat
Kinki
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English
Journal
No. 6
(Similarly)
Move, Daniel,
move, Daniel
Move, Daniel,
move, Daniel
Go the other
way, Daniel
Go the other
way, Daniel,
This is one example
terpreted
King
hell was being
concept
Jesus
another
That
anyone
Babylon
spirituals
He states
that
and winter
reference
the spirituals
a slave
were slavery,
disagrees
"To say that
the slaves to make
can be in-
who mistreated
1990, p. 25). Raboteau
some have—that
of most
spirituals
and more profound.
to change,
something
verse might
another.
that
with the
the spontaneity
to individual
were coded protest
incisongs"
he goes on to say that,
the relevance
matically
(Fisher,
permitted
is not to assert—as
biguous
..."
by dubbing
benefactor,
as coded messages.
of the spirituals
(p. 246). However,
of "allegory
south
1984)
It has been suggested
was the slave's
sold farther
of spirituals
and fluidity
dents
of coded language.
from the perspective
as `Satan.'
etc.4 (Folkways,
to the situation
Because
a spiritual
have a particular
the spirituals
in one situation
else, without
of slavery
negating
significance
was both more am-
were open formally
might
its earlier
for a person
mean
and the-
one thing
meaning.
and in
A particular
at one time and not at
(p. 247)
they can mean
different
used as coded protest
things
to different
people is exactly
why they could be
songs.
Slaves' Use of Language
Ambiguous
used the spirituals
language.
The use of ambiguous
language is one way that slaves
as codes. In Africa songs "telling stories were not on lofty and ele-
vated subjects but carried over themes of daily experiences with much repetition,
sub-
tle attacks,
were
substituted
pseudonyms
and accompanying
action
or demonstration.
Fictitious
names
in these tales for those of real persons" (Fisher, 1990, p. 9). Slaves also used
in songs. All this evidence points to the use and understanding
bolic meaning by slaves. One of the myths about African-Americans
of sym-
that Melville J.
Herskovitz (1941) set out to disprove in his book, The Myth of the Negro Past, was that
"O
nly the poorer stock of Africa was enslaved, the more intelligent members of the
4 You can hear this song as performed by The McIntosh County Shouters
From The Coast Of Georgia.
118
on the album Slave Shout Songs
Slave Songs:
African community
cited in Raboteau,
Codes of Resistance
(Bayer)
raided having been clever enough to elude the slaver's nets" (as
1980, p. 50). The rich, complicated culture slaves created in adverse
conditions—such
as songs with multiple, symbolic meanings expressing
cepts—disproves
the myth.
Fisher attests
ing ..."
that "the southern
(p. 19). In his discussion
Fisher (1990) mentions
Mornin',"
Negro used a sign and meaning for everyth-
of the aftermath
two spirituals
complex con-
of Nat Turner's
about the Judgment
uprising
in 1831,
Day: "My Lord, What a
and "Stars Begin to Fall"5:
My Lawd, what a morning!
(sung 3 times)
When all them stars done gone and fall.
I run to de rock to hide my face,
But de rock cried out, no hiding place!
I got to de tree, says, fall on me,
Lawd, when de stars done gone and fall. (LaRue, 1960a)
The two songs share similar imagery; for example, the phrase "when de stars begin to
fall." An interesting feature of these two songs is the confusion about the word
"
mornin'." Fisher suggests that "Although collectors marvel at the word `mornin','
`
moanin" or 'mournin" would be equally characteristic" (p. 90). James Weldon Johnson
includes a disclaimer in his book before the song "My Lord, What a Mornin',"
effect that it "has at times been erroneously
printed
(p. 162). The ambiguity
that perhaps all three meanings
multaneously
leads one to suggest
to the
`My Lord, What A Mourning–
are si-
present.
To take up what Raboteau
mentioned:
each person singing the song. Furthermore,
who had not yet gone through
perhaps the meaning was different
for
the term "mourner" was used for a person
the conversion process, for example, –going down into
the lonesome valley' was a difficult passage that each sin-laden `mourner' had to experience before `comin' through'
example, Raboteau
over `mourners'
to conversion"
(1980) writes,
"Christian
(Raboteau,
1980, p. 253). And in another
members were willing to sing and pray
all night long to help them come through
to the lord" (p. 255). Slaves
have also been quoted as using the term "moaners" in the same way: "Preachers
used
to get up and preach and call moaners up to the moaner's bench" (as cited in Raboteau,
1980, p. 255). The confusion comes when the word is written.
5
Michel LaRue performs
this song on Songs of the American Negro Slaves.
119
Slaves certainly
under-
Kinki
University
English
Journal
No. 6
stood the reference implied. The songs of slaves were primarily
the civil war that collectors began transcribing
nate pronunciations
oral. It was not until
them. The choice of spelling for alter-
of words is an imperfect science.
Coded language.
The songs could be codes, as in the shout song "Move, Daniel,"
or they could be symbols communicating
secret information
to slaves without
the
knowledge of the master. An example of this is the song "Steal Away," which Fisher
(1990) suggests
contains internal
evidence pointing
to Nat Turner as the originator
(pp. 66-67).
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here!
My Lord calls me, He calls me by the thunder;
Green trees are bending, Poor sinner stands a trembling;
Tomb stones are bursting,
Poor sinner stands a trembling;
My Lord calls me, He calls me by the lightning,
The trumpet
sounds with in-a my soul, I ain't got long to stay here. (Work,
1998, p. 123)
The song was used to inform slaves of a religious
Raboteau
or secret meeting that evening.
(1980) quotes a former slave named Wash Wilson who attested to the use of
the song as a message about a secret meeting:
When de niggers go round singin'
`Steal Away to Jesus,' dat mean dere gwine
be a ligious meetin' dat night. De masters ... didn't like dem 'ligious meetin's,
so us natcherly slips off at night, down in de bottoms or somewhere. Sometimes
us sing and pray all night. (as cited in p. 213)
Quoting James Cone in their book The Black Church in the African American Experience,
Lincoln and Mamiya (2001) showed that Harriet Tubman, famous for helping so many
fugitive slaves reach freedom, also used " `Steal Away'. . . as a signal of freedom for
slaves who intended to run away with her to the north,
Lincoln & Mamiya,
Higginson,
2001, p. 352). A collector
or to Canada" (as cited in
of spirituals,
"Colonel of the First South Carolina Volunteers,
in the civil war," learned from a member of his regiment
concerned about symbolic meaning ("Higginson").
was too dangerous
dently thought
an assertion
....
Thomas
the first black regiment
that southern
The spiritual
whites were
"We'll Soon Be Free"
"De Lord will call us home," was evi-
to be a symbolic verse; for, as a little drummer-boy
to me, showing all his white teeth as he sat in the moonlight
120
Wentworth
explained
by the door of
Slave Songs:
my tent,
Blacks
were
Mistresses
"Dey tink de Lord mean
jailed
for
demanded
singing
their
(1980) cites a number
tresses
Codes of Resistance
such
slaves
of examples
for slaves to pray
for say de Yankees." (p. 98)
songs
pray
(Bayer)
(Higginson,
for a southern
of "the desperate
for the success
which comes from slave testimonies
1977, P. 98). Masters
victory
in the war.
need of some
of the Confederacy
is the following:
..."
"Massah
masters
and
Raboteau
and mis-
(p. 308). One example
angry
`cause I pray
for
de North, can't help it mus' pray for the whole worl'. Massah say, `No! Pray for de
`f
ed' rates.' But I knew god would bless de North" (as cited in Raboteau,
1980, p. 308).
Another
was from
me. `Maria,
M'ria
may be done.'
be driven
"a slave woman
...
what
`But, missus,
to worship
amounts
as breathing
pray
for?'
that
"One day my mistress
`I prays,
way. You must
if it's de Lord's
back' " (as cited in Raboteau,
and praying
Maria":
does you pray
'But you mustn't
back.'
named
mussus,
pray that
de Lord's
will
our enemies
may
will to drive `em back, den they will go
1980, p. 308). One can conclude
to the same thing.
that
came out to
As W. B. McClain
is to life" (as cited in Lincoln,
that
states:
singing
"Singing
spirituals
is as close
2001, p. 374).
Conclusion
Slaves composed songs to protest
and ridiculed;
Thurman
their condition. They complained, criticized,
they used coded, symbolic
language
to do so. They employed,
as
(1975) puts it, "The age-old technique by which the weak have survived in the
midst of the strong [, which] is to fool the strong. Deception, hypocrisy,
lying, become
the mechanism by which the weak protect themselves from the strong"
(pp. 44-45). It
was a necessity, a matter of survival. Thurman
suggests that "Deceive and live for yet
another day, is written large in the manual of survival of many forms of life, including man"
(p. 45). It is a testament
to the intelligence
and fortitude
of African-
Americans that they successfully used the "powerful weapon of all oppressed peoples.
Often they communicate[d]
with each other in a language that [had] a double mean-
ing. Sometimes they resort[ed]
to ciphers or simple codes or symbols"
(p. 45). With
techniques such as those mentioned above, slaves brought forcibly from Africa created
a body of music unlike any other in North America, the foundation of American popular music. These songs helped slaves maintain
their culture in the face of overwhelm-
ing odds. They contain a wealth and a depth of meaning including the religious, but
"Th
ey are not mere religious hymns written or recited to sweeten the service or improve the ritual.
They are the aching, poignant
121
cry of an entire people" (as cited in
Kinki University English Journal No. 6
Fisher,
1990, p. 25). They were the oral history
of Negroes
to contemporary
to express
their
emotion
taught
lives: "Had every
of American
ous original
music,
to them
from Africa
situations"
Negroes
they
(Parrish,
(Fisher,
spiritual
ministers,
been preserved,
a complete
story
(p. 180). They composed
influenced
and they
the reactions
1990, p. 182). Slaves improvised
would be available"
were somewhat
by white
of a people; "they preserve
by hymns
"brought
their
of every
spontane-
and Biblical
`melodies'
songs
content
with them"
1992, p. 7).
References
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Blassingame,
L. M. (Compilers). (n.d.). Slave songs of the United
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Press.
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RCA.
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(Original work published in 1940)
Kinki UniversityEnglish Journal No.6
Appendix
Song List
"N
obody Knows The Trouble I've Seen"
3:26
"S
Sam Cooke
wing Low, Sweet Chariot" 4:40
The Fairfield Four
"M
ove, Daniel"
3:49
The McIntosh County Shouters
Coast Of Georgia
"St
ars Begin To Fall" 1:33
Michel LaRue
124
Night Beat
Standing In The Safety Zone
Slave Shout Songs From The
Songs of the American Negro Slaves