Amid the forbidden brush arbor, the invisible churches and praise houses flourished during the antebellum period. Slaves attending these services would sing, pray, and praise the night away. Petitions of freedom, hope, and justice… Praises to the highest God… Encouraging one another in their plight… Can't you hear them?

"Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom over me!" "I am a poor pilgrim of sorrow, but I've started to make Heaven my home." "Good news!! The chariot's 'a comin', Children!"

Then comes the Plantation preacher, "licensed only by The Holy Spirit," his Bible tattered and torn:

"Look at Daniel all shut up in 'dat lion's den…. Look at 'dem Hebrew boys trapped in that fiery furnace…. Oh, Lord! Good God! Paul and Silas a-rockin that jail house…. Let us walk together, children! We can't get weary. Hold on a lil while longer. Surely, if God can deliver them, what you think about us?

Over my head, I hear music in the air!! There must be. There's got to be a God somewhere!"

The historical narratives of this unit will describe the circumstances surrounding not only the development of the sacred folk spirituals, secular work songs, and trickster songs and tales but also, and as importantly, their role and function in the daily lives of the enslaved Africans who were bound to the plantation system.

We will cover these topics under the broad subjects of Folk Spirituals, Source Materials and Celebration, and Precursor to the Blues. As you explore them, listen attentively to the wide variety of songs you encounter and reflect on how the music embodies the meanings that words cannot convey.