Negro spirituals –
Negro spirituals were primarily expressions of religious faith. They may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white American culture. They were originated by enslaved African-Americans in the United States. Many internet sources and popular books claim that certain songs contained explicit instructions to fugitive slaves on how to avoid capture, and on which routes to take to successfully make their way to freedom. These claims, as popular as they are, do not hold up to reasoned and informed inquiry; for example, the sources provide no firsthand evidence of the use of coded songs or distort the firsthand accounts that are availablein order to support their claims.
Popular spirituals: “Wade in the Water”; “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
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