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By the way, African Americans used to sing outside of churches. During slavery and afterwards, slaves and workers who were working at fields or elsewhere outdoors, were allowed to sing "work songs". This was the case, when they had to coordinate their efforts for hauling a fallen tree or any heavy load. Even prisoners used to sing "chain gang" songs when they worked on the road or on some construction project.

But some "drivers" also allowed slaves to sing "quiet" songs, if they were not apparently against slaveholders. Such songs could be sung either by only one soloist or by several slaves. They were used for expressing personal feeling and for cheering one another. So, even at work, slaves could sing "secret messages". This was the case of negro spirituals, which were sung at church, in meetings, at work and at home.

The meaning of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected personal relationship between the slave singer and God.
http://www.negrospirituals.com/index.html

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After the years of slavery, on the day of Martin Luther King's birthday, which is dedicated as a national holiday, spirituals are brought out to recognize the struggle of all black ancestors and often played in dedication to his liberation.

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The background behind these kinds of sings tightly relates to history of African Americans, specifically three milestones in it's history: The abolition of slavery, the Black Renaissance, and the First Martin Luther King's Day. Most commonly, you will hear songs relating to the struggles slaves faces in the 1800's.
http://www.negrospirituals.com/history.htm

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Alot of bad things happened in the water. Some people downed, or dumped into the water when dead.

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The Official Site of the Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music

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Homeland of the negro spirituals where you can find lyrics, history and singers.

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The tunes and the beats of negro spirituals and Gospel songs are highly influenced by the music of their actual cultural environment. It means that their styles are continuously changing.

The very first negro spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were not far from those of hymns. Some of them, which were called "shouts" were accompanied with typical dancing including hand clapping and foot tapping.

http://www.negrospirituals.com/index.html

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Source: Google Images

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The word "water" is recurring in many of the spirituals because it is symbolism to baptism. It is an

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Source: Google Images
- Singing spiritual music was inspiring to black Americans during the slavery period.

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What is the Difference Between the Spirituals and Gospel Music?

"Many people ask what the difference is between the spirituals and Black gospel music. Simply put, the spirituals are the Southern sacred "folk" songs created and first sung by African Americans during slavery. Their original composers are unknown, and they have assumed a position of collective ownership by the whole community. They lend themselves easily to communal singing. Many are in a call-and-response structure, with back-and-forth exchanges between the leader and the group. A formal concert tradition has evolved from the original spirituals, with solo and choral arrangements based on original slave melodies, employed for performance by amateur and professional artists. Black gospel music originated in the churches of the urban North in the 1920's, and has been the predominant music of the twentieth century Black Church. Each gospel song has an identifiable composer. Gospel fuses musical elements of both the spirituals and the blues, and incorporates extensive musical improvisation, with piano, guitar or other instrumental accompaniment. While the gospel tradition descended directly from the spirituals and the blues, the spirituals have also continued to exist as a parallel cultural force."

http://www.spiritualsproject.org/sweetchariot/History/

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Water is an important image in the African American spiritual. “Deep river, my home is over Jordan” (Songs of Zion, 115) is a song that finds hope on the other side of the river. “Go Down, Moses” (Songs of Zion, 112) is a spiritual of deliverance in which Pharaoh’s armies were drowned in the sea. Water was a primary aspect of slave experience. Africans began their captivity—the “middle passage”—by traveling across the ocean to a new land in slave ships. The Ohio River was the dividing line between slavery and freedom on the Underground Railroad.

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The Underground Railroad was a network of people, African American as well as white, offering shelter and aid to escaped enslaved people from the South. It developed as a convergence of several different clandestine efforts. The exact dates of its existence are not known, but it operated from the late 18th century to the Civil War, at which point its efforts continued to undermine the Confederacy in a less-secretive fashion.

Quaker Abolitionists

The Quakers are considered the first organized group to actively help escaped enslaved people. George Washington complained in 1786 that Quakers had attempted to "liberate" one of his enslaved workers.

In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia that helped enslaved people on the run. At the same time, Quakers in North Carolina established abolitionist groups that laid the groundwork for routes and shelters for escapees.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, established in 1816, was another proactive religious group helping fugitive enslaved people.

What Was the Underground Railroad?

The earliest mention of the Underground Railroad came in 1831 when enslaved man Tice Davids escaped from Kentucky into Ohio and his owner blamed an "underground railroad" for helping Davids to freedom.

In 1839, a Washington newspaper reported an escaped enslaved man named Jim had revealed, under torture, his plan to go north following an "underground railroad to Boston."

Vigilance Committees-created to protect escaped enslaved people from bounty hunters in New York in 1835 and Philadelphia in 1838-soon expanded their activities to guide enslaved people on the run. By the 1840s, the term Underground Railroad was part of the American vernacular.
READ MORE: 6 Strategies Harriet Tubman and Others Used to Escape Along the Underground Railroad
How the Underground Railroad Worked

Most of the enslaved people helped by the Underground Railroad escaped border states such as Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland.

In the deep South, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made capturing escaped enslaved people a lucrative business, and there were fewer hiding places for them. Fugitive enslaved people were typically on their own until they got to certain points farther north.

People known as "conductors" guided the fugitive enslaved people. Hiding places included private homes, churches and schoolhouses. These were called "stations," "safe houses," and "depots." The people operating them were called "stationmasters."

There were many well-used routes stretching west through Ohio to Indiana and Iowa. Others headed north through Pennsylvania and into New England or through Detroit on their way to Canada.
READ MORE: The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico
Fugitive Slave Acts

The reason many escapees headed for Canada was the Fugitive Slave Acts. The first act, passed in 1793, allowed local governments to apprehend and extradite escaped enslaved people from within the borders of free states back to their point of origin, and to punish anyone helping the fugitives. Some Northern states tried to combat this with Personal Liberty Laws, which were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1842.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was designed to strengthen the previous law, which was felt by southern states to be inadequately enforced. This update created harsher penalties and set up a system of commissioners that promoted favoritism towards owners of enslaved people and led to some formerly enslaved people being recaptured. For an escaped person, the northern states were still considered a risk.

Meanwhile, Canada offered Black people the freedom to live where they wanted, sit on juries, run for public office and more, and efforts at extradition had largely failed. Some Underground Railroad operators based themselves in Canada and worked to help the arriving fugitives settle in.

Harriet Tubman

Library of Congress

Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad.

Born an enslaved woman named Araminta Ross, she took the name Harriet (Tubman was her married name) when, in 1849, she escaped a plantation in Maryland with two of her brothers. They returned a couple of weeks later, but Tubman left again on her own shortly after, making her way to Pennsylvania.

Tubman later returned to the plantation on several occasions to rescue family members and others. On her third trip, she tried to rescue her husband, but he had remarried and refused to leave.

Distraught, Tubman reported a vision of God, after which she joined the Underground Railroad and began guiding other escaped slaves to Maryland. Tubman regularly took groups of escapees to Canada, distrusting the United States to treat them well.

Frederick Douglass

Formerly enslaved person and famed writer Frederick Douglass hid fugitives in his home in Rochester, New York, helping 400 escapees make their way to Canada. Former fugitive Reverend Jermain Loguen, who lived in neighboring Syracuse, helped 1,500 escapees go north.

Robert Purvis, an escaped enslaved person turned Philadelphia merchant, formed the Vigilance Committee there in 1838. Former enslaved person and railroad operator Josiah Henson created the Dawn Institute in 1842 in Ontario to help escapees who made their way to Canada learn needed work skills.

New York City-based escapee Louis Napoleon's occupation as listed on his death certificate was "Underground R.R. Agent." He was a key figure guiding fugitives he found at the docks and train stations.

John Parker was a free Black man in Ohio, a foundry owner who took a rowboat across the Ohio River to help fugitives cross. He was also known to make his way into Kentucky and enter plantations to help enslaved people escape.

William Still was a prominent Philadelphia citizen who had been born to fugitive enslaved parents in New Jersey. An associate of Tubman's, Still also kept a record of his activities in the Underground Railroad and was able to keep it safely hidden until after the Civil War, when he published them, offering one of the clearest accounts of Underground Railroad activity at the time.

Who Ran the Underground Railroad?

Most Underground Railroad operators were ordinary people, farmers and business owners, as well as ministers. Some wealthy people were involved, such as Gerrit Smith, a millionaire who twice ran for president. In 1841, Smith purchased an entire family of enslaved people from Kentucky and set them free.

One of the earliest known people to help fugitive enslaved people was Levi Coffin, a Quaker from North Carolina. He started around 1813 when he was 15 years old.

Coffin said that he learned their hiding places and sought them out to help them move along. Eventually, they began to find their way to him. Coffin later moved to Indiana and then Ohio, and continued to help escaped enslaved people wherever he lived.

John Brown

iStock / Getty Images Plus

Abolitionist John Brown was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, during which time he established the League of Gileadites, devoted to helping fugitive enslaved people get to Canada.

Brown would play many roles in the abolition movement, most famously leading a raid on Harper's Ferry to create an armed force to make its way into the deep south and free enslaved people by gunpoint. Brown's men were defeated, and Brown hanged for treason in 1859.

By 1837 Reverend Calvin Fairbank was helping enslaved people escape from Kentucky into Ohio. In 1844 he partnered with Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster and was arrested for helping an escaped enslaved woman and her child. He was pardoned in 1849, but was arrested again and spent another 12 years in jail.

Charles Torrey was sent to prison for six years in Maryland for helping an enslaved family escape through Virginia. He operated out of Washington, D.C., and had previously worked as an abolitionist newspaper editor in Albany, New York.

Massachusetts sea captain Jonathan Walker was arrested in 1844 after he was caught with a boatload of escaped enslaved people that he was trying to help get north. Walker was fined and jailed for a year, and branded on his right hand the letters "SS" for Slave Stealer.

John Fairfield of Virginia rejected his slave-holding family to help rescue the left-behind families of enslaved people who made it north. Fairfield's method was to travel in the south posing as a slave trader. He broke out of jail twice. He died in 1860 in Tennessee during a rebellion.

End of the Line

The Underground Railroad ceased operations about 1863, during the Civil War. In reality, its work moved aboveground as part of the Union effort against the Confederacy.

Harriet Tubman once again played a significant part by leading intelligence operations and fulfilling a command role in Union Army operations to rescue the emancipated enslaved people.
READ MORE: After the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman Led a Brazen Civil War Raid
Sources

Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad. Fergus Bordewich.
Harriet Tubman: The Road To Freedom. Catherine Clinton.
Who Really Ran the Underground Railroad? Henry Louis Gates.
The Little Known History of the Underground Railroad in New York. Smithsonian Magazine.
The Perilous Lure of the Underground Railroad. The New Yorker.

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The Underground Railroad was a network of people, African American as well as white, offering shelter and aid to escaped enslaved people from the South. The exact dates of its existence are not known, but it operated from the late 18th century to the Civil War, at which point its efforts continued to undermine the Confederacy.

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In the early  nineteenth century African Americans were involved in a thing known as the "second awakening"

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African-American spirituals, also known as Negro spirituals, are a familiar, precious part of American history. Today their melodies are an integral part of worship services. Often sung as part of Martin Luther King Jr. birthday and Black History Month celebrations, oppressed people worldwide continue to use them as protest and liberation songs.

While these songs have strong connections to historical and personal experiences, the entire function of the spirituals may not be obvious. Songs originating during the slavery years in the United States, 1600 through 1870, are generally categorized as plantation, sorrow and jubilee songs; however, the use of these melodies goes beyond those labels.

African-American spirituals emerged from a mix of the brutal institution of slavery, Christian influences and African culture. The songs expressed a yearning for a better life, claimed identification with the children of Israel, named the slave owner's deceit and hypocrisy, underscored the need for a closer walk with God, identified the reality of Satan and emphasized the slave's hope for freedom and the future. Love, grace, mercy, judgment, death and eternal life are among the themes enfolded in these songs.

The spirituals offer a historical record revealing the slave's struggle for freedom and survival, and yet reflect the exciting worship experiences that expressed their hope for life's possibilities.

The slave's acceptance of Christianity, while experiencing the conflicting behavior of slave owners, is a testament to the power of the gospel. Often slaves believed that the salvation and new life of which they learned when "worshipping" with their owners would happen not on earth, but, rather, when they went to heaven. While many slaves understood God's promises were meant for all people while on earth, they also knew they could not openly pray for deliverance and equality. The traditional spiritual "All God's Chillun Got Shoes" mentions having shoes - something most slaves did not have - plus a robe, a harp, a crown and wings, As they sang it, the slaves also knew none of these were actually available on earth.

Ah gotta shoes, You gotta shoes
All o' God's chillun gotta shoes.
When Ah git to Heab'n gonna put on mah shoes
Gonna walk all ovah God's Heab'n.

Imagine hearing of a God who loves and cares for all, who provides for needs and urges God's children to ask for their needs, but all the while being afraid to request openly for fear of beating or death. The "invisible church" developed as a place for slaves truly to express their concerns.

In their songs, the slaves named issues and fears they could not express publicly. Meeting in the woods or arbors, out of the sight and hearing of slave owners and overseers, the slaves were free to worship and praise, to express their true feelings and to offer unbridled prayers and requests to God. They could lay their burdens down and find strength to face another day.

Many of the spirituals carried dual meanings and symbolic messages unknown to slave owners. The lyrics of "Steal Away" alerted slaves that a religious meeting would occur that night; slaves sang the song all day until they notified everyone. Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman used the spirituals "Wade in the Water" and "Deep River" to warn slaves to travel in the water to throw off their scent from the bloodhounds.

The lyrics of "Ride On, King Jesus" were an answer to the mistreatments by slave masters, who were no match for the God who was on the slaves' side.

Ride on, King Jesus, No man can a-hinder me...
King Jesus on a milk-white horse, No man can a-hinder me.

The text of many spirituals, such as "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" and "There Is a Balm in Gilead," came directly from the Old Testament. As he grieved over the sin of the Israelites who had turned their backs on God, the prophet Jeremiah posed the question, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" In their new religion, enslaved Africans found the answer in Jesus Christ.

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul.
Don't ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend,
And if you lack for knowledge, he'll ne'er refuse to lend.

Just as the text of this soothing spiritual captures a timeless message, the strength and power of African-American spirituals speaks to the continual relevance of these songs and the reason they still heal souls today.

*Pamela Crosby, a freelance writer and producer, is executive director of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Nashville, Tenn. This article was first published in the Jan.-Feb. 2014 issue of Interpreter.

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Part of history, African-American spirituals still heal - The United Methodist Church

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African-American spirituals, also known as Negro spirituals, are a familiar, precious part of American history. Today their melodies are an integral part of worship services. Often sung as part of Martin Luther King Jr. birthday and Black History Month celebrations, oppressed people worldwide continue to use them as protest and liberation songs.

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Traveling

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Lyrics in many songs created during the time of slavery have double meanings and related to their troubles and plans of escaping. In the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd",  many of the lyrics hint towards how to escape a plantation and find your way to freedom. Another example is in "Wade In The Water". Harriet Tubman used this song to hint to slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen. These songs are called "map songs" as they have directions coded within the lyrics.
http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/

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Many of the lyrics are tied to religion, like Jesus Christ and the freedom he promises. They also refer to the Promised Land, Underground Railroad, and other things that are dedicated to salvation and a free country.

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http://www.negrospirituals.com/index.html

http://www1.cbn.com/churchandministry/the-origins-of-the-spirituals

http://www.umc.org/resources/part-of-history-african-american-spirituals-still-heal

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Any act of joyous entertainment was prohibited, so the slaves would have secret meeting in where they would share their sorrows and hope, often through spirituals

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Any act of joyous entertainment was prohibited, so the slaves would have secret meeting in where they would share their sorrows and hope, often through spirituals

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Lily Murphy
Sidney Bishop
Ireland Bonacci
Haven Crouse
Danae Green
Bouthaina Ibrahim

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USE THESE LINKS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED:

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USE THESE LINKS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED:

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http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

https://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+slavery&espv=2&biw=1388&bih=781&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&pjf=1&ved=0ahUKEwixmZqZh9rOAhVGHR4KHQXCD1sQ_AUICCgD&dpr=1&safe=active&ssui=on

https://www.google.com/search?q=history%20of%20slavery&safe=active&ssui=on#q=history+of+slavery&safe=strict&tbm=vid

http://www.negrospirituals.com/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JtD_YpyXYU

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SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND ITS LINK TO SLAVERY:

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SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND ITS LINK TO SLAVERY:

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-USE PICTURES, DESCRIPTIONS, YOUTUBE LINKS, ETC. TO DESCRIBE THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND HOW FAR BACK SPIRITUAL MUSIC LINKS TO SLAVERY

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-LIST THE MEMBERS THAT HELPED PUT THIS PADLET PAGE TOGETHER