Introduction to Lesson 3 (Continued)
Although the quote "Slaves obey your masters" resounded among many White people of the era, particularly in the Southern colonies, the slaves must have heard a message in the words of the Apostle Paul: "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ" (Gal. 4:7NKJV). Within this context of spirituality, the slaves expressed and declared their inheritance and relationship with the Divine, one that is deep-seated and profoundly expressed through rhythm, dance, and song. This unit will further examine these spiritual expressions while identifying the rhythmic content, singing styles, form, structure, and textual and harmonic analysis found in several examples of the ring shout ritual as practiced in America with roots in Central and West Africa.
Take a listen to this short video "The Ringshout & the Birth of African-American Religion" from This Far by Faith. Three minutes into this clip from we are introduced to the ring shout 
SIDE NOTEThe McIntosh County Shouters, 1993 recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, are known for their compelling fusion of dance, call-and-response singing, and percussion consisting of handclapping and beating a stick. The ring shout has African origins, but as the tradition formed during slavery, it also contains strong elements of Christian belief. as practiced and preserved in the Gullah Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina. The following particular rhythmic configuration serves as the basic pulse of the ring shout:
The Ringshout & the Birth of African-American Religion
Its very nature is a syncopated foundation. Other additives and divisive handclapping and knee-slapping elements are integrated and resulting in multilayered cross and polyrhythmic configurations. In the Gullah culture the rhythm referred to earlier or the ring shout rhythm uses a stick against a wooden floor instead of a drum because the Negro Act of 1740 prohibited slaves from playing drums SIDE NOTEXXXVI. And for that as it is absolutely necessary to the safety of this Province, that all due care be taken to restrain the wanderings and meetings of Negroes and other slaves, at all times, and more especially on Saturday nights, Sundays, and other holidays, and their using and carrying wooden swords, and other mischievous and dangerous weapons, or using or keeping of drums, horns, or other loud instruments, which may call together or give sign or notice to one another of their wicked designs and purposes… And whatsoever master, owner or overseer shall permit or suffer his or their Negro or other slave or slaves, at any time hereafter, to beat drums, blow horns, or use any other loud instruments or whosoever shall suffer and countenance any public meeting or feastings of strange Negroes or slaves in their plantations, shall forfeit ten pounds, current money, for every such offense, upon conviction or proof as aforesaid; provided, information or other suit be commenced within one month after forfeiture thereof for the same. This polyphonicMusic composed for many parts or voices, each with its own melody, thus creating a rich texture of sound. texture encapsulates the age-old element of call-and-response. Central and West African indigenous traditions and practices are deeply embedded in African American musical styles and genres, even to the present. Therefore, improvisation and syncopation are quintessential to the art form, which allow for spontaneous creativity as well as a purging of feeling and heightened emotions. In many cases, these creative opportunities became the community of composers' libraries for lending, sharing, and creating as life's circumstances demanded.
It is abundantly clear that evangelical religion reflected the catharsis of African religious and ritualistic practices, and that Christianity was not new to the peoples West of the continent. In fact, Christianity in Africa goes as far back as the crucifixion, when Simone of Cyrene, that descendant of Ham, had pity on the Suffering Servant-Jesus Christ himself. Perhaps, and to the defense of these Africans, their refusal to accept the slave masters' version of Christianity, was based on the inherent contradiction of being a slave owner and a Christian at the same time.
Albert Raboteau
...even as the gods of Africa gave way to the God of Christianity, the African heritage of singing, dancing, spirit possession, and magic continued to influence African American spirituals, ring shouts, and folk beliefs.
Rev. Johnson
It was something in the religion of the oppressors the slaves saw which was deeper than that of the oppressors' presentation.