The History of Gospel Music Essay

American history was radically changed when President Abraham Lincoln gave the very famous Emancipation Proclamation. This lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans who sought the same liberty and equality that was promised to everyone under the United States constitution. These liberties, of course, were not achieved right away. During the Reconstruction era, which is the decade right after the Civil War, many of the recently freed slaves did not have money, property, or credit. They could not buy the necessary things to enjoy their freedom, which lead to sharecropping, a glorified form of slavery. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner lets a tenant use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land (Sharecropping).. Added on to this, facilities were segregated to prevent the black man from enjoying the same things as the white man due to Jim Crow laws which were enacted after the Reconstruction era. The struggle for equality and rights continued during the Gilded Age (1873-1900), the Progressive Era (1900-1920s), the Great Depression (1930s), WWII (1939-1945), the beginning of the Cold War (1947), up until the Civil Rights movement (1954-1968). At this point in history, African Americans fought for their rights and changed the course of American history. Music was a very important tool used by African Americans that helped achieve this. Ever since the slavery times, music was a big part of their culture

A cultural value that is important and must be taken to account is Direct vs. Indirect. I say this because how you communicate with some will greatly affect how much they retain of listen to. In this matter, Drew has expressed that he feels Christians are aggressive and history has shown their moral compass lacks right vs wrong and good and bad. Knowing this I would want to work around being direct and indirect when communicating with him. I would never want to be to direct and push him away nor would I want to be so indirect that it seems as if I’m walking on egg shells. In the end, how I communicate to him will greatly impact if he listens or shuts me out.

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

While work songs dealt only with their daily life, 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 Ohio River, that they called “Jordan”. Some negro spirituals refer to the Underground Railroad, an organization for helping slaves to run away.

Eileen Southern’s The Music of Black Americans: A History she examines the influence that African Americans had in the holiness churches in music and worship. She initially starts with the landing of the first Africans to the colonies and she creates a phenomenal conversation of the musicians in the new world. She details the progression in the gospel, classical, jazz, rap, blues and the contributions they made.

The spirituals are a testament not only to the perpetuation of significant elements of an older world view among the slaves but also the continuation of a strong sense of community. Just as the process by which the spiritual were created allowed for simultaneous individual and communal creativity, so their very structure provided simultaneous outlets for individual and communal expression. (33)

Negro spirituals was a “genre” of music introduced by African American slaves in response to their lives and treatment by the white race. It gave many slaves the voice of opposition that they never had and allowed them to subliminally speak against their masters without fear of consequences. Said to have originated from slaves who were “Unable to read the Bible for themselves and skeptical of their masters’ interpretation of it…” (Raboteau). These songs were “… the message of the Christian gospel… translated… into

The author starts out by describing the harsh situation slaves were put in and how the black experience in America is a history of servitude and resistance, of survival in the land of death. The spirituals are the historical songs which tell us what the slaves did to hold themselves together and to fight back against their oppressors. In both Africa and America, music was directly related to daily life and was an expression of the community’s view of the world and its existence in it. The central theological concept, which is the prime religious factor, in the black spirituals is the divine liberation of the oppressed from slavery. Further, the theological assumption of black slave religion as expressed in the spirituals was that slavery contradicts God, and therefore, God will liberate black people. This factor came from the fact that many blacks believed in Jesus, and therefore, believed that He could save them from the oppression of slavery because of his death and resurrection. The fact that the theme of divine liberation was present in the slave songs is supported by three main assertions: the biblical literalism of the blacks forced them to accept the white viewpoints that implied God’s approval of slavery, the black songs were derived from white meeting songs and reflected the "white" meaning of divine liberation as freeing one from sin (not slavery), and that the spirituals do not contain "clear references to the desire for freedom". The extent of

A spiritual journey dominates these songs, but the concern for physical freedom is there as well. The most pervasive image in the spirituals is that of the chosen people for the slaves believed that they had been chosen by God just as the Israelites had. They also believed that they understood better than anyone what freedom truly meant in both a spiritual and physical sense. The Old Testament characters that the slaves referred to in their songs experienced deliverance by God. The slaves believed that the same God that had granted them spiritual freedom would someday loose the chains of slavery. The wonderful flexibility of the spirituals allowed for that double meaning of freedom. For example, Frederick Douglass claimed that the line” I am bound for Canaan” in one of the songs he frequently sang meant that he was going North, not just that he would experience the freedom of the promised land in a spiritual sense. The flexibility and multiplicity of meanings also allowed for slaves to use these sacred songs as secret communication. Some songs, such as “Steal Away to Jesus,” were used to call a secret meeting where the people could worship without the supervision of the whites. Other songs, such as “Wade in the Water” served as coded directions for runaway slaves. With the eventual emancipation of the slaves, religious music of African Americans became prominently

Gospel music is an elegant form of worship. It has been used to speak out against oppression and to advocate for freedom and equality for all. Gospel Music is exemplary of music being used to change the world. Gospel music and the various artists associated with it have had a monumental impact on the face of our

But Monroe preached that they were misunderstanding the song if they fooled themselves into thinking all creation would someday love them. What it really required was for them to love all creation” (78). Monroe used the hymns of his church as a means to spread his ideas of how people ought to live their lives. This pattern is also apparent with Inman. When he meets Swimmer, a Native American, he learns of a chant that could “kill the soul of an enemy” (20). Inman cannot accept this notion because “he had been taught by sermon and hymn to hold as truth that the soul of man never dies” (20). Charles Frazier believed in the power of hymn to influence what people believed about spirituality and the soul. This parallels the historical usage of hymns in church during the Civil War as well as in today’s church as a means to pass down culture. Hymn music also had the ability to strengthen the Church and to solidify the beliefs of the parishioners. There is a large disagreement over the influence of religious music over a person’s beliefs. The evangelical song leaders believed that religious music moved people with no faith to a life dedicated to praising God, but people from outside the church described religious music as “cheap and tawdry” (Squire 242). According to the United Evangelical Front religious music was a way to articulate God’s plan and extend the influence of religion outside of the church

Religious songs were also another group. They were sung accompanied by clapping of hands and foot stamping. Slaves had their own ways of praying and worshipping in their native land which assisted them to be introduced to Christianity. Africans used to sing songs, give testimonies and worship to their gods and deities; a culture which they could not forsake. These songs were classified as work, jubilee and social. Work songs sung while working in the field to give the black community hope and freedom. Social songs contained social messages and the jubilee songs were sung in the church.

     The power of song helped slaves through their dehumanized lives. They created unity in songs of religion and denounced the power their masters held over them. They were going to rebel in all facets of life. Slaves knew “that a happy slave is an extinct man” (p.33). The meanings of these songs can not be overstated. One who knew the importance of song was Frederick Douglass. “They told a tale of woe...they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the

For centuries, Gospel music has influenced and promoted African-American social, moral and ethical values, playing an imperative role in modelling their past and future. Originating from the hardships of slavery and the strength of Christian worship, Gospel music has adapted to musical tastes through the development of a number of sub-genres, while retaining its moral and spiritual framework. Throughout its musical history, Gospel music has had a profound and predominant influence on its devotees and followers. During the turbulent years of the American Civil Rights Movement, Gospel music played a vital role in building the foundations of stability and

One of the most prominent forms of music that was incorporated by slaves in their daily lives was religious music. Another one of the most influential forms of musical expression among the slaves were slave songs, and these were songs of sorrow and misery. Some slave songs were joyful and cheerful, but others were sorrowful but were all deeply expressive. These songs were used by slaves as a means of communicating their true feelings and emotions, due to the brutal and repressive society that they resided in.