From: African-American History with Jessica McElrath

Spirituals For more than 25 years, the Georgia Sea Island Singers have sang slave spirituals to audiences interested in hearing this unique form of song. Upon hearing a spiritual, it is apparent that such song not only helped slaves endure life, but that it was an expression of their joys, sorrows, hopes, and dreams.

Spirituals were influenced by the culture of Africa. Africans used songs to recite history, express feelings about each other, and it was tied it to all aspects of life. Influenced by traditions of Africa, spirituals were created by individual and group contribution. Songs were constantly re-created from bits of old songs and then formed into new songs with new tunes and lyrics. They were not always created in church, but were often constructed and sung while working.

The most notable spirituals were those that described slaves as the chosen people. This idea provided slaves with the comfort that God was with them and freedom would soon come. They sang: "We are the people of God" and "To the promised land I'm bound to go." Although their master's had told them they were the lowest of all people, these lyrics reinforced the belief that God chose them.

Hope of liberation was also commonplace; it was expressed in spirituals that were created from the books of the Old Testament and from Revelations of the New Testament. Slaves sang about the Red Sea opening so the Hebrew slaves could pass the Pharaoh armies, David's victory over Goliath with a stone, Noah building the ark, and Jonah obtaining his freedom from confinement through faith. These songs not only provided hope in the future and examples of oppressed people from the past, but also confirmed that God helped oppressed people. Just as God had delivered the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery, they believed that He would also deliver them from slavery.

Sorrow was also a prevailing theme and was expressed in songs about death. Because slaves did not have control over their lives and were subjected to the whims of their master's, death was a constant threat. However, death was not feared since they believed that Christ had died for all sinners and those who believed in Him would be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead, death was viewed as the end to suffering on earth. Therefore, it is not surprising that they sang songs such as, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" which welcomed death.

After the Civil War, the prevalence of spirituals waned since many former slaves did not want to be reminded of the past. However, it was in the early 1870s when a group of students known as the Fisk University Jubilee Singers revived spirituals when they set out to raise money for the university. For the first time white people, non-southerners, and others were able to hear the significance of slave songs. Even today, spirituals provide a way to comprehend the joys, sorrows, and lives of slaves.