Music and Religion in African-American Slave Culture

The buying, selling, and trading of human beings for individualized labor, slavery, Is often thought to be singlehandedly the most atrocious thing that human being as a whole has created. The horrors these innocent men, women, and children faced on a day to day basis was parallelled perhaps only by the soldiers engagement the war over their freedom. Though slavery was full of negatives, it also blossomed with positives as a means to cope.African-American slaves used several aspects of their native African ulture to cope, twain primary components being music and religion. Slaves worked under constant watch by their owners, constantly fearing punishment for a slip-up. Enslaved African-Americans obviously resented the way they were being treated, displace devised ways to rebel against their owners right under their noses.Reaching back to their African roots, slaves sing seemingly harmless songs to one an different as they worked under the suffer sum Little did their owners know t hat the slaves had eaved intricate secret messages into their lyrical pieces, much(prenominal)(prenominal) as metaphors intended to ridicule their masters or to send signals to other slaves. Their music was a mix of tribal African rhythms and American religious music, as they relied heavily on their religion to cope from day to day.Even though their outlook was bleak, Slaves stayed positive in the face of sheer adversity through and through their faith. The most common faith emong slaves was that of christlanlty. he christlan doctrine being passed overthrow from fathers to sons and so on, Initially, some slaves were non chrlstlan. and held fast to their old polytheistic beliefs from their home, Africa. Asslmllatlon was ineluctable however, and nearly all negro slaves were converted Their native religion did not cease to exist, but rather lived on through a conventionalised take on christianity.They incorporated several aspects of the African religion with christianity, such as rituals and vocalization. Sometimes both religion and music came hand in hand to the slaves, who praised their Lord through song and dance. Slaves kept their heads high in hopes of being freed someday. Even today, the Influences of slave music and religion can be seen In modern religion, gospel music, hip-hop, rap. and the like. Even though slavery Is a memory many try to forget, It can still be remembered positively through the culture that emerged through the confinement