Negro Spirituals

The story of Negro spirituals is closely linked to the history of African Americans, within three milestones: the abolition of slavery (1865), the Black Renaissance (1925), and the first Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day (1985). Negro spirituals blend a combination of spoken word, hums, moans, groans, and old slave dialect and incorporated them with a simple repetitive tune to convey strong emotion.

Before 1925 almost all the first Africans who arrived in the New World were slaves. They came from several regions of the African West Coast. Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some narratives and has often times be depicted in televisions shows and movies. They had to work either in plantations or in town. Most importantly they had to work against their will.

Slavery was an important issue facing Churches, as slaves were allowed to meet for Christian services. However, because some Christian ministers were against this, slaves weren’t allowed to participate and give input freely. This resulted in rural slaves staying after the regular worship services, in churches or in plantations, for singing and dancing. But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing drums, as in the usual African custom. Slaves also had meetings in secret places to meet one another and share their joys, pains, and hopes. In rural meetings, thousands of slaves gathered and listened to preachers, while singing spirituals, for hours. So, in rural areas, spirituals were sung, mainly outside of churches. At church, hymns and psalms were sung during services. Some of them were transformed into songs of the typical Negro form.

The lyrics of Negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of their authors: slaves. Spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and his Good News (Gospel) of the Bible, “You can be saved”. They are different from hymns and psalms, because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave. Many slaves in town and in plantations tried to run to a “free country”, that they called “my home” or “Sweet Canaan, the Promised Land”. This country was on the Northern side of the Ohio River, that they called “Jordan”. Some Negro spirituals refer to the Underground Railroad, an organization for helping slaves to run away.

Slavery was abolished in 1865. Then, some African Americans were allowed to attend school and graduate. At Fisk University, one of the first universities for African American, in Nashville, TN, some educators decided to raise funds for supporting their institution. So, these educators along with a select few of students made tours in the New World and in Europe, and sang Negro spirituals to accomplish this goal. Through these efforts the Fisk Jubilee Singers were established. Other Black universities also had singers of Negro spirituals: Tuskegee Institute, etc.

Just after 1865, most African Americans did not want to remember the songs they sung during the hard days of slavery. That meant that even when ordinary people sang Negro spirituals, they still were not proud to do so. In the 1890s, Holiness and Sanctified churches appeared, of which the Church of God in Christ stemmed. In these churches, the influence of African traditions was evident. These churches were heirs to shouts, hand clapping, foot-stomping and jubilee songs, like in the days of the plantation. At the same time, some composers arranged Negro spirituals in a new way, which was similar to the European classical music.

In the 1920s, the Black Renaissance was an artistic movement encompassing poetry and music. “It was an evidence of a renewed race-spirit that consciously and proudly sets itself apart”, explained Alan Locke. So, the use of dialect was taboo, in this movement. The “race-spirit” infused the work of musicians and writers like Langston Hughes. For the first time, African Americans realized that their roots were deep in the land of their birth. The Black Renaissance had great influence on the ways of singing and interpreting Negro spirituals. First, the historical meanings of these songs were put forward. Then, singers were pushed to be more educated. This constant improvement upon Negro spirituals gave birth to another type of Christian song. These songs were inspired by the Bible (mainly the Gospel) and related to the daily life. Thomas A. Dorsey was the first who composed such new songs. He called them Gospel