Songs were used daily by African slaves. It was their tradition brought from Africa by the first slaves, some songs were called spirituals. Songs had many purposes like providing repetitive rhythm for repeated manual work, motivation and inspiration.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, also known as the 'Moses of her people,' was enslaved, escaped, and helped others to gain their freedom as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. She also served as a spy, scout, guerrilla soldier, and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery from the south to become a leading abolitionist (a movement to end slavery) before the American Civil War. She also lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom in the North along the route of the Underground Railroad.
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| Harriet Tubman in 1895 |
Harriet Tubman and other slaves used songs as a strategy to communicate with slaves in their struggle for freedom. Coded songs contained words giving directions on how to escape, also known as signal songs or where to meet known as map songs.
Harriet Tubman is credited for freeing enslaved people from the south of America to Canada. She showed extraordinary ingenuity, courage, persistence (continuing something for a very long time), and iron discipline. She helped ensure the final defeat of slavery in the United States by helping the Union during the American Civil War.
Underground Railroad
It was a system in the Northern States of America before the Civil War which escaped slaves to the North or in Canada. This was neither underground nor a railroad, this was named because its activities to be carried secret, using disguise, and because railway terms were used in the reference of the system. The network of routes extended in all directions throughout the 14 Northern states and 'the promised land' of Canada. The number of black people reached varied, from 40,000 to 100,000.
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| The Underground Railroad Credit: PBS |
Spiritual Song
In Wade in the Water
Tubman used “Wade in the Water” to tell slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen and make it through. This is an example of a map song, where directions are coded into the lyrics. These are the lyrics to “Wade in the Water”
Chorus: Wade in the Water, wade in the water children.Wade in the Water. God’s gonna trouble the water.Who are those children all dressed in Red?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones that Moses led.God’s gonna trouble the water.ChorusWho are those children all dressed in White?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones of the Israelites.God’s gonna trouble the water.ChorusWho are those children all dressed in Blue?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones that made it through.God’s gonna trouble the water.Chorus
Meaning of the song
Wade in the Water - Go in the water so the scent of them goes away, so the dogs won't find them.
Must be the ones that Moses led - Harriet Tubman leading thousands of enslaves to escape. She used songs to send messages to slaves.
The Significance Today in Present
People in America still argue and debate over the impacts of slavery, and there are many protests and movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, which use slavery that occurred in the past and is continued to be used during these protests.
