page_title: Music and Black liberation
section_title: African American slave songs (19th century)
hierarchical_section_title: Music and Black liberation / History / Before the 20th century / African American slave songs (19th century)
caption_attribution_description: English: w:The Old Plantation, ca. 1790-1800. en:Watercolor by unidentified artist. Original painting in Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, en:Williamsburg, Virginia.
context_page_description: Music and Black liberation refers to music associated with Black political movements for emancipation, civil rights, or self-determination. The connection between music and politics, has been used in many cultures and was utilized by blacks in their struggle for freedom and civil rights. Music has been used by African Americans over the course of United States history to express feelings of struggle and hope, as well as to garner feelings of solidarity for their freedom struggle. African Americans have used music as a way to express their struggle for freedom and equality which has spanned the history the United States and resulted in the creation and popularization of many music genres including, jazz, funk, disco, rap, and hip hop. Many of these songs and artists played pivotal roles in generating support for the civil rights movement.
context_section_description: With the beginning of the 16th century came the Atlantic slave trade that enslaved over 12 million Africans from its inception until its disbanding in the 19th century. This took free Africans from their homes, and a majority of them were brought to the Americas. To the descendants of an enslaved civilization, music provided African Americans with an opportunity to experience the idea of freedom as an idea before it became a reality with the passing of the 14th Amendment in 1868. In the American South, whites established rules that prevented slaves from leaving their master's plantations without written permission. To enforce these rules, white patrols were established to catch runaway slaves, return them to their masters, and punish them. White masters asserted themselves over their slaves and made sure the slaves knew that they were property. Slaves would often hold private worship meetings to escape from their enslavement if only for a little while. They would also sing in the fields, but to avoid being punished for singing about freedom, they would conceal the true meaning of their freedom songs by using symbols in their music. It was a common practice for small groups of slaves to gather together on Sundays to relax and sing together. They would play drums and dance as a way of expressing their culture and also as a way to rally their slave community together in unity. Many times music encouraged and spurred uprisings and revolts.
caption: The Old Plantation (Slaves Dancing on a South Carolina Plantation), ca. 1785-1795. watercolor on paper, attributed to John Rose, Beaufort County, South Carolina. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.
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