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Conclusion


In this lesson, you learned the importance of the work song to the Africans before arriving in the United States and how these work songs translated into enslaved African work ethic on Southern plantations.

Slave owners found that the slaves worked harder when they sang, and the work gang singing leader was important to setting the pace. The slave workers related the songs to their work life on the plantation and the songs were often associated with movement and non-movement.

Although there are many types of works songs, the main types of songs covered in this lesson are Dock, Prison, Railroad, and Trickster.

Frederick Douglass

They who study mankind with a whip in their hands will always go wrong.