Slavery and Music Through Time - Social Studies

For the past few weeks on Social Studies, we have learned about what the slave trade triangle was and how music affected the world. However, this blog post about the use of spirituals, Harriet Tubman, the underground railroad and how they had a big impact to help the slaves escape. 

Spirituals:

Spirituals is a type of religious song that was sung in informal gatherings of slaves. These gatherings range from praise houses, outdoor meetings, brush arbour meetings, bush meetings or camp meetings. During these meetings, the members would sing, chant, dance and sometimes enter in a thrilling matter. Spirituals were used to either encourage the slaves, give them hope, in church, funerals, and when permitted; even weddings. They were also used to communicate with each other to help them escape. For example "Go Down Moses".

Go Down Moses Lyrics: Link

This song has a hidden message through its lyrics, the song implies the evidence that slavery was uncontrolled in the southern part of America. The Egypt part of the song refers to those slave states, the song then becomes a call to abolitionist (a person who wants to end slavery); to take the slaves and go south to help stop slavery. 

About Harriet Tubman:

Harriet Tubman was a famous woman, who was born into slavery and was also an escaped enslaved woman. She became a conductor on the underground railroad and was responsible for helping African slaves to escape. However, this act has caused her to carry a bounty on her head. Yet, she additionally worked as a nurse, a union spy, and a women’s suffrage supporter.

Underground Railroad:

 

When Harrier Tubman found work as a housekeeper in Philadelphia. She wasn't pleased living in freedom on her own, this resulted in assisting to free her loved ones and friends. The underground railroad was a system that existed in the Northern states. It was already built before the Civil War by which escaped slaves from the South. It was called the underground railroad so that it won't raise any suspicions, as its activities had to be carried out in secret.

How are these events still significant today:

Well, a type of slavery is still occurring today, though, it is now known as human trafficking. Human trafficking is somewhat similar to slavery. The only difference between them is human trafficking is when someone is moved to another place, for the purpose of slavery. Slavery is the exploitation of when they arrive in a specific place. 

This is the presentation that I have made: Link