Nothing kicked any nests, Phil. There must be many cultures that have had or even have call and response worksongs, and you are doing a great job in flagging them up.

I have now read the OP which offers not a shred of evidence. Interesting theory and plausible. Just a personal thing, I simply prefer the twin route to the chanty as being the Georgia Island slaves/freed slaves singing actual proto chanties, albeit to rowing; and then the Mississippi slave river workers and stevedores working the cotton into ships' holds and then eventually the chequerboard crews from the Gulf ports and east coast of America, but that's not so different from the OP. I'd be very happy to be proved wrong with some actual contemporary accounts. Maybe both were contributors. I don't think the African influence was as direct as the OP is making out despite the Ashanti theory. As I say I'd love to be proved wrong.