Listen to the Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6N_eTZP2U

Follow The Drinking Gourd

Lyrics:
I When the Sun comes back
And the first quail calls
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the Drinking Gourd.
The riverbank makes a very good road.
The dead trees will show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on,
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
The river ends between two hills
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
There’s another river on the other side
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
When the great big river meets the little river
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

(Source: http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/)
“Follow the Drinking Gourd” is a folk song sang by those of African American decent
escaping slavery by usage of the underground railroad. This song is relevant to my decade (1830-
1839) because the underground railroad is believed to have started along the late 1820’s to early
1830’s and reach its height in around the 1850’s to 1860’s (Underground Railroad, 2018). The
underground railroad has a lot of key figures that took part like Harriet Tubman, had many folk
songs sung by fugitives escaping other than this song, and is said to be one of many causes that
led to the civil war. Folk songs were not only sung for hidden messages to plan out and escape
but folk songs were sung during travel to keep morale high during escaping and reminding them
not to give up. This song in particular was sung with hidden messages on how to travel to safety
(Harriet Tubman, 2018). It talked about a gourd which was actually the big dipper, it had hidden
meanings as to when slaves should leave, when the gourd was visible, and if the gourd was not
visible for travel then they could use the dead trees or moss to help guide them (Harriet Tubman,
2018). It had hidden meaning for geographic landmarks that were key to ravel like finding and
follow key rivers and passing mountains (Harriet Tubman, 2018). The underground railroad for
this decade was very active and gave freedom to a lot of slaves that made the escape north or to
even Canada (Underground Railroad, 2018). Many songs were made and sang during this decade
to benefit the journey and boost the idea of escaping. For example, another song in particular
called “Oh Go Down, Moses” gives a biblical perspective of those in captivity, being freed by
god with the example of Moses and Moses freeing his people (which are the African Americans)
(Harriet Tubman, 2018). So, during this time is when many African Americans were starting to
stand up, refuse slavery, and take the journey of the underground railroad in hopes of becoming a
freeman somewhere in the north.
 References
Songs of the Underground Railroad: Harriet Tubman. (2018). Harriet-tubman.org. Retrieved 29
March 2018, from http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/.
The True Story of Follow the Drinking Gourd. (2018). casandersdotnet. Retrieved 29 March
2018, from https://casanders.net/music-history/the-true-story-of-follow-the-drinking-
gourd/.
Underground Railroad | HistoryNet. (2018). HistoryNet. Retrieved 30 March 2018, from
http://www.historynet.com/underground-railroad.
What Happened from 1830 to 1839 including Important Events, Technology and Inventions.
(2018). Thepeoplehistory.com. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1830to1839.html.