Understand African American

Spirituals
Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade Reading, Social Studies, , , ,

Spirituals have a long history in the United States, and often serve to strengthen and motivate people. Students
will compare three types of spirituals from different time periods and share their understanding with their peers.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to compare three different styles of African American spirituals.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Class set of The History of African American African American spirituals

Spirituals emancipation
Class set of Underground Railroad: Songs of enslavement
Freedom the civil rights movement
Computer or other device to listen to recordings
of some African American spirituals

Attachments

Underground Railroad: Songs of Freedom (PDF)

The History of African American Spirituals (PDF)

Introduction (5 minutes)

Play aloud a clip or two of different examples of African American spirituals. See the Suggested resources
section, or refer to The History of African American Spirituals worksheet for song title ideas.
Ask students if the songs are familiar, if they understand who is singing, or if they wonder anything about
the songs. Record their ideas on the board.
Explain that African American spirituals are religious songs that relate to the experience of enslaved
African Americans in the United States.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (10 minutes)

Tell students that African American spirituals have a long history in the United States. While African
Americans have sung the spirituals since slavery in the American South, the styles and words in the
spirituals have changed over the years
Create a three-column T-chart and list the three time periods: Spirituals During Enslavement, Spirituals
During Emancipation, Spirituals During the Civil Rights Movement.
Review that enslavement refers to when Africans were forced to work as enslaved people and
emancipation is when the 13th Amendment passed and slavery was illegal. Remind students that the
civil right movement is when African Americans and their supporters strived to eliminate segregation
and gain equal rights beginning in the 1950s and 1960s.
Explain that while there is likely to be some overlap in the styles, these are general time periods.
Display and distribute The History of African American Spirituals worksheet. Read through the beginning
text with the class, asking for volunteers to read each paragraph.
Review confusing or difficult vocabulary with students as volunteers read the text. Highlight each heading
to emphasize the separation of ideas in the text.

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Guided Practice (15 minutes)

Separate the class into three groups.

Assign each group a time period (e.g., Spirituals During Enslavement, Spirituals During Emancipation,
Spirituals During the Civil Rights Movement.)
Have groups read through the whole worksheet as a group.
Tell them to reread their assigned section and highlight key details about spirituals during that
time period.
Ask them to write some details in their section of the worksheet.
Tell each group that they will present key ideas to the class, so they should each be able to
contribute some information during the presentation.

Independent working time (20 minutes)

Have groups present the key ideas and details from their assigned time period. As groups present, take
notes on the three-columned T-chart on the board.
Tell students to take notes on their worksheet, making sure to write the notes in the correct time period.
Reiterate key ideas about spirituals in each time period after each group presentation.
Have students independently complete the Venn diagram after the presentations.
Review the answers to the Venn diagram and correct misconceptions or discuss questions that arise.

Related books and/or media

VIDEO Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

AUDIO Jesus Lead Me All The Way
AUDIO Go Down, Moses
BOOK No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance
BOOK Free at Last! Stories and Songs of Emancipation
BOOK Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

Differentiation

Support

Engage students in a small, teacher-led group as they study their chosen type of spiritual. Assist students
as they read through the text and ask probing questions as they choose key details.
Discuss with them beforehand what they will share during their presentations so they get practice
sharing their thoughts.
Write questions you say aloud on the board so students can reread them.

Enrichment

Give students an opportunity to explore the sounds of African American spirituals. Have them use the
Related Resources or search online for audio. They might notice that remade audio recordings may have
different styles depending on the time period in which they were recorded.
Challenge students to think about how the civil rights period may have changed if African Americans had
not used spirituals. This will be an opinion exercise where they will have to make inferences and use
historical evidence to support their opinions.

Technology Integration

Allow students to listen with headphones to audio recordings of spirituals online.

Have students play a clip of a spiritual during their group presentations.

Assessment (12 minutes)

Have students read and complete the worksheet Underground Railroad: Songs of Freedom.
Ask students to identify the time period of the spirituals listed on the worksheet (during slavery). Ask

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 them to give evidence for their answer. (E.g., year of the songs, Harriet Tubman reference, context of the
text, etc.)
Once students have determined the songs fit during the slavery time period, see if students can add
more details to that section of the three-column T-chart.

Review and closing (8 minutes)

Ask students why spirituals are considered a part of African American culture. Have them turn and talk to
their elbow partner.
Ask some of the following follow-up questions:
How do you define culture? (E.g., a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or group of people.
Food, music, clothes, and crafts are some examples of things that make up a group of people's
culture.)
What was the purpose of the spirituals?
Why would African Americans continue to sing the same tunes over the years, but change the
lyrics?
What impact did spirituals have on the African American community?
Allow students to use their text or other online sources to answer some of these questions. Model
referring to a source as you rephrase some of the student statements.

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Name
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
songs of freedom
M us ic play ed an i m portant part i n t h e l i v e s o f A m e r ic a n s b o r n i n t o
s la v e ry . S o ngs w e re a w ay of gi v i ng e n c o u r a g e m e n t a n d h o p e f o r a f r e e
future. Read a bou t th re e popu lar so n g s, t h e n a n sw e r t h e qu e st io n s.
L e t M y Pe o ple G o
T h i s song ref ers to the Exodus in
t h e B ib l e, wh en t he Is rae lite s le ft
E g y pt f or f reed om. A me ricans born
i n t o sl avery al so wante d fre e dom
a n d t o l eave t h e South.
“W h e n Is ra e l wa s i n Egyp t’s land,
L e t my pe o ple go .
O ppr e s s e d s o h a rd they could not stand,
L e t my pe o ple go .
G o do wn , Mo s e s ,
’W ay do w n in E gyp t land.
T e ll o ld Ph a ra o h :
L e t my pe o ple go .
F rederi ck
D ou g lass
w a s a writer, state s man and
a n t i -sl avery ac t iv is t. He als o
esc ap ed sl avery to fre e dom
i n t he Nort h . In one of his book s ,
h e writes ab o u t the s ong s s ung by
en sl aved p eo p l e to e ncourag e e acho-
t h e r t o esc ap e. He re is part of one
o f t he so ngs th at ins pire d him:
“ O Ca n a a n , s w e et Ca na a n,
I a m b o u n d f o r t he la nd of Ca na a n. ”
Douglass said about the song:
“We meant to reach the North —
and the North was our Canaan.”
u ns c r a m b le RDG OU
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Date
FOL L OW THE D RINKING GOURD
A go u r d wa s a dr ie d ve ge t a bl e s he l l
u s e d f o r dr in k in g. The s o n g m a y r e f e r t o
t he Big Dippe r , t he s t a r f o r m a t io n t ha t in clu d e s
P o l a r is , o r t he No r t h S t a r . Tho s e who e s ca p e d
s l a ve r y f o l l o we d t he No r t h S t a r t o ge t t o t he fr e e
s t a t e s in t he No r t h.
W hen t he s un c om e b ac k ,
W hen t he fi r s t q uai l c al l ,
Then t he t i m e has c om e
Fol l ow t he d r i nk i ng gour d .
The r i v er ’ s b ank i s a v er y good r oad ,
The d ead t r ees s how t he w ay ,
Lef t f oot , p eg f oot goi ng on,
Fol l ow t he d r i nk i ng gour d .
The r i v er end s b et w een t w o hi l l s , big dipper
Fol l ow t he d r i nk i ng gour d ;
A not her r i v er on t he ot her s i d e
Fol l ow t he d r i nk i ng gour d . north
W hen t he l i t t l e r i v er star
Meet s t he gr eat b i g one,
The ol d m an w ai t s —
Fol l ow t he d r i nk i ng gour d . LITTLE dipper
WHAT D O YOU THINK?
Wha t r epr esented the Nor t h in the song t h at
encour a ged Fr eder ick Dougla ss?
Wha t does “my people” mea n in t he son g ?
Which dir ection would y ou go if y ou f oll o w e d
the Big Dipper ?
OPPL E E RSTA THR O N
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Name Date

The History of African American Spirituals

Spirituals have a long history in African American culture in the United States.
A spiritual is a religious song that relates to the experience of enslaved African Americans.

Introduction to Spirituals
The word spiritual comes from the King James translation of the Bible verse Ephesians 5:19. The verse
reads, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord." Spirituals are a blend of the Christian religion enslaved Africans discovered in
the American South, and the African-styled songs from their homeland.

Enslaved Africans would blend their style of music with Christianity. Singing as a form of communication
is deeply rooted in African American culture. When Africans were kidnapped and shipped across the
Atlantic during the Middle Passage, they used singing as a way to communicate during the voyage and
to stay alive through the oppression and unjust treatment.

Spirituals During Enslavement

In the eighteenth century, enslaved Africans would gather together in “camp meetings” outdoors. There,
they would sing and dance. Sometimes it would appear as if they were in a trance. At times they would
also perform “ring shout" style, a shuffling, circular dance with chanting and hand clapping. This is seen
in the faster versions of the spirituals “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Jesus Led Me All the Way.”

Enslaved Africans were drawn to parallels between their difficult situation and those in Biblical stories.
There was Moses, who would lead the Isrealites out of slavery in Egypt. After the Israelites’ emancipation,
Moses led the escaped Israelites through the desert to the promised land, or Canaan. In the Bible,
Canaan was the land God promised to the Israelites. This hope for a better future is found in the lyrics,
“O Canaan, sweet Canaan, I am bound for the land of Canaan.” Influential abolitionist and former
enslaved person Fredrick Douglass wrote of this spiritual in his book My Bondage and My Freedom
(1855). Douglass said this spiritual spoke of getting into heaven. He said it was also about the enslaved
people arriving in the North, where they could find freedom.

At times, enslaved Africans would sing spirituals to strengthen their resolve, or to persevere toward a
better future. Not only would the songs have double meanings, but they would sometimes have
messages. Enslaved Africans would also sing songs while working in the fields. Some of the spirituals
would have encoded meanings, like “Go Down, Moses,” which Harriet Tubman used when she was a
conductor for the Underground Railroad. Tubman would use the song to let people know she was there
to help them while they escaped.

Spirituals During Emancipation

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, signed by Abraham Lincoln, meant that some enslaved people
were free. But slavery continued to exist. African Americans still did not have the same rights as white
Americans. Even after the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1865, making slavery illegal in
the whole country, African Americans still did not have equal rights.

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Name Date

The History of African American Spirituals

As newly emancipated African Americans searched for jobs and homes, they
continued to face unjust treatment. Some examples of the racism they encountered
included not being able to get jobs and fair pay because of the color of their skin. During this time,
African Americans would continue to use spirituals to share their frustration over this unequal
treatment. The spirituals were also about their hope for a better life.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 used spirituals to strengthen people’s resolve during
their year-long refusal to use the bus. During the boycott, African Amerians would share rides or walk. In
some cases, their commute to work took longer than if they caught the bus! One spiritual they sang to
persevere through this time was “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.” It was based on the gospel hymn “Keep
Your Hands on the Plow,” but they changed the words to fit their current boycott circumstance. The
Montgomery Bus Boycott marked the start of the civil rights movement, whereby people would come
together to demand equal treatment for all Americans.

Spirituals During the Civil Rights Movement

The 1960s was the era of protest songs and freedom songs. Spirituals changed into songs that had a
political message, or that hoped for change. During the civil rights movement, people used music to
express their views on justice and equality. Protest songs were a popular form of music. They could be
heard both at rallies and on the radio.

“Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” was just one of many songs adapted from spirituals during the civil rights
movement. The movement’s famous song, "We Shall Overcome," mixed the gospel hymn "I'll Overcome
Someday" with the spiritual "I'll Be Alright." Combining the songs allowed protesters to link their past
trials with their current unequal treatment.

During the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, musicians Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and
Peter, Paul and Mary performed to show their support for the movement. Often protest songs describe
something that is going on in a community, or the world. These songs describe the kind of changes
they would like to see happen. Protest songs can be angry, sad, or optimistic. They have been written in
all different styles, from folk to soul to hip-hop. Songs like “What’s Going On” and “A Change is Gonna
Come”are examples of protest songs.

Impact of Spirituals
Without a doubt, spirituals have been an important part of African American culture. During each
period of struggle, African Americans have used songs to help them persevere. Songs are used to
communicate messages. Spirituals are used to hope for a better future for African Americans and their
families. While there have been different styles of spirituals over the years, the purpose has been the
same: to sing about the African American experience.

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Name Date

The History of African American Spirituals

Directions: Complete the table with information from the text.
Write key details about spirituals during enslavement.

Write key details about spirituals during the emancipation period.

Write key details about spirituals during the civil rights movement.

Use the details of the different types of spirituals to compare spirituals in the Venn diagram.
During Slavery

During During All During the

Emancipation Time Periods Civil Rights
Movement

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