Web Version
PDF VersionLesson 8: Stories Through the Music of the Slaves
Background
The popular media often depict slaves singing as they work. The songs were more than just something for the slaves to do during hard labor. They were a way of communicating important messages about hope and escape to freedom. This lesson examines some of those songs and helps students uncover the hidden meanings in the music of slaves.
If desired, this lesson could be presented just prior to the Signs and Symbols lesson and the messages in some of the songs could be designed as quilts.
Objectives
Following the completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Describe how slaves communicated with each other through coded songs;
- Decode an unfamiliar slave spiritual.
Time
1 class period
Materials
Recordings of songs sung by slaves including:
Oh, Freedom
Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees
Wade in the Water
Go Down Moses
Trampin'
Swing Low
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Internet Access
Web site for lyrics of spirituals:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TWH/Higg.html
Optional:
Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad by Kim and Reggie Harris. Appleseed Recordings - CD that includes the songs listed above
Procedure
Without introduction, play some of the recordings of slave spirituals for the students. Ask them what they know about these songs.
Tell students, "As slaves were planning their escape on the Underground Railroad, they communicated through songs. Many of the songs had a religious theme and could be sung in the presence of overseers or masters without fear of detection." Listen to Wade in the Water. Have students suggest what this song may be about.
Wade in the Water gives directions to fugitive slaves. It reminds them to stay near rivers and streams and not to travel on the highways where they may be discovered. Bodies of water provided cover, safety, food, and access to the conductors who often used bodies of water for transportation. It also provided information about the direction in which the slave was traveling.
Some other words that students may find in spirituals and their meanings appear below. You may want to have them available in a handout or project them on a screen so that students can see them as they continue to listen to some of the songs.
Darkness - closer to slavery
Glory - closer to freedom
Moses - an Underground Railroad Conductor
Pharaoh - Slaveholder
Israel - slaves
Egypt - bondage
Promised Land - freedom
Heaven/home - safe placePlay several of the other songs and discuss what these songs may have been telling the slaves. Accept student interpretations. Have students discuss and justify alternate interpretations.
Several songs gave specific directions within their lyrics.
- Play the song, Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees. Ask students if they have heard this song and where. What do they think it means? Ask them what they think it would mean to a slave. This song, frequently sung today at Protestant communion services, was a coded call for a secret meeting or a call to gather in the early morning (rising sun) to talk about important things. Discussions often included plans for escape. Share with them the meaning of the song and play it again so that they can hear it as if they were a slave listening to it.
- Another familiar song may be Follow the Drinking Gourd. Follow the same procedure with this song. Escaping slaves frequently used the Big Dipper (drinking gourd) to provide directions for their escape over unfamiliar terrain. In this song, specific directions are provided about where they could find conductors (the old man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom), and to use dead trees (see the moss on the north side) to find the way. Of all of the songs, this one provides perhaps the most explicit directions and landmarks.
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Provide the lyrics to a new song to small groups of students. Have them discuss the lyrics and decode them. Discuss their findings and see how similar or different their interpretations are. Discuss reasons for any differences. You can obtain a few other spirituals from the Web site http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TWH/Higg.html. Words to some are below.
I KNOW MOON-RISE.
"I know moon-rise, I know star-rise,
Lay dis body down.
I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight,
To lay dis body down.
I 'll walk in de graveyard, I 'll walk through de graveyard,
To lay dis body down.
I 'll lie in de grave and stretch out my arms ;
Lay dis body down.
I go to de judgment in de evenin' of de day,
When I lay dis body down ;
And my soul and your soul will meet in de day
When I lay dis body down."XIX. WRESTLING JACOB.
"O wrestlin' Jacob, Jacob, day 's a-breakin';
I will not let thee go !
O wrestlin' Jacob, Jacob, day 's a-breakin';
He will not let me go !
O, I hold my brudder wid a tremblin' hand ;
I would not let him go !
I hold my sister wid a tremblin' hand ;
I would not let her go !
"O, Jacob do hang from a tremblin' limb,
He would not let him go !
O, Jacob do hang from a tremblin' limb ;
De Lord will bless my soul.
O wrestlin' Jacob, Jacob," day's a-breakin';
He would not let him go ! Have students discuss or write about why it would be important to know the code in order to more fully understand text. Ask them what might happen if they misinterpreted or didn't understand the code in the songs.
Extension
Older students may want to write a song that describes a specific route from a place in a slave state to a place of freedom. Have them think of code words and directions that will help lead the way while keeping the meaning hidden to anyone who does not have the code. The class may want to develop a code book of words for general use in their compositions.
Younger students may want to write a song that provides directions to and from familiar places in their community.
Essay Contest
Encourage your students to participate in the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Essay Contest. You can find more about it by visiting www.kcopera.org/About/johnbrowneducation/essay.
Lesson created by Martha A. Henry and Keith S. Murray, M.A. Henry Consulting, LLC.