Essay On African American Culture

An instant separation from their families, customs, institutions, and practices led Africans to form a new culture in the New World. Slavery in North America commenced in the beginning of the seventeenth century when the first African Slaves were brought to America in bondage to Jamestown Colony in Virginia (History). They were forced into slavery on a new continent that was foreign to them, throughout their abrupt change from Western and Central Africa to North America they were unable to fully integrate into a culture that was not their own. The hardship of their lives gave them the unfortunate opportunity to create a new culture; the newfound culture created by the African slaves allowed the minimal integration into the colonies. They were …show more content…
In the early years of slavery, slave owners prohibited the usage of drums by the African slaves, which meant that the spiritual songs were originally monophonic and a cappella (AuthenticH). Some slaves sang outside churches, and if allowed, throughout their work days. As time passed the African Spirituals took on another job, they became a coding system for escaping slaves. The Underground Railroad was the term used to describe a network of persons who helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the northern states or Canada (History). The songs would have encoded messages telling different signals. An example of the encoded message was from the song “Wade in the Water,” where the person who is singing “Wade in the water, God's a-going to trouble the water” is signaling the escaping slaves to get off the trail into the water (Pathway). The meaning was to protect the running slaves from dogs who were following their trails. The usage of the songs was an innovative way to get the slaves to freedom for they were the only ones who understood the hidden message. It was critical for them to have this form of communication to lead them to their