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History of slavery through music
Importance of blues in african american culture
Thesis on african american music
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Recommended: History of slavery through music
We typically think of slaves as a mistreated African American. Thats not all they were, they sang, they read, they were a huge part of our history we don't even acknowledge. They contributed a lot to our music, you could say they were the roots of jazz and blues. Slaves sang almost every moment of their life, there is many different categories of their music, but one of the most interesting is field hollers. Field hollers contain a lot of information on the slave(s). This means emotion is strong in these songs. You can find three main subjects in their tunes, those three are; sad, happy, informative, or passing time. In 1916 America’s first settlement began to increase their population number, but not in a way you might expect. Jamestown …show more content…
began getting shipments of african american slaves as a form of trade. Slavery was popular in other states like Africa, but these shipments were the first taste of slavery America had ever got. As you may know, indentured servants were like slaves, but with a contract. According to (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html) “In 1640, the year Johnson purchased his first property, three servants fled a Virginia plantation. Caught and returned to their owner, two had their servitude extended four years. However, the third, a black man named John Punch, was sentenced to "serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural life." He was made a slave.” In other words slavery didn't officially start in america before indentured servants began to disobey. In the article it also states after servants were freed they got revenge on property owners using threats. Slavery started a lot of extreme emotions for both races, except they were two completely different emotions. The english were amused and pleased with their new discovery. They experimented with different variables, for example, one early form of slavery was to be a slave if you weren't a christian. This new rule meant both english and african’s were slaves working together in a cruel field. As they experimented more and more the process seemed to get more and more simple, but also harsh. They would have many auctions just for slaves. How could you purchase a slave? Simple, you basically just had to own at least 40-50 acres of land and possibly a mule. Typically you were either brought in as a slave on a tightly packed slave ship, declared a slave, or born into slavery. This means chances of you being a slave are pretty great. Its claimed one reason for african americans to be the average slave is because the english were very arrogant, in other words they would not be a slave with out putting up a fight where as african americans were used to this and usually just went along with it. They where probably afraid of a harsh punishment that might come with their refusal. Although they didn't show emotion to english, they would show their anger and hurt in their songs. What kind of song? Out on the field they would sing songs commonly known as a field holler, corn holler, or field cry. These songs usually are sang describing emotion, situations, or have a secret message embedded in them that only other slaves could understand. Its also common for blues artist to sing about their feeling on working on the field and being a slave. According to Bill Ferris and his book “give my heart ease”. Most songs in the slave era involved a lot of emotional lyrics and a steady beat. For example what ever job the slaves were doing, they would typically have a leader who would sing a chorus and the workers would either match it, repeat it,or change it. When they sang they would do it in a special rhythm that matched the beat of the work they were doing. One tone they use is sadness.
Typically when they sing using sadness they sing about negative points in their life, negative subjects all workers relate to, or the pain that comes with their work. When they sang using a sad tone it was called a blue devil or sometimes just blues. They used these names to describe their blue mood. A quote describing why blues are sad by Joe louis: “The man says, why I sing the blues is because I lived it. I know how it feels. When your hurt you gotta tell somebody. Somebody must understand how you feel . The only way to do it is to say it loud and clear. Make sure that everyone will hear. Its the truth the way it is. That’s why I sing the blues. “ The reason people sing blues and sad songs during the time is to let off steam, and to get your emotions out of your system instead of letting steam build up to the point you explode. When you think of a happy song, you typically don't think about freedom. When were on this topic happiness is getting any small taste of freedom. Many songs I used in as my sources sang about someone getting free, or rebelling just for a moment of freedom. In these songs they fill you in in all the emotions and thoughts. They give great, yet short descriptions that paint a big image in your
head. Slaves where great at getting their messages through in songs. If you look at a song written by a slave you will automatically know they were not highly educated, and you also know they didn't typically sing one really long song. Their songs were usually quick, short, and simple. When they sang to get a message through they sang using code words and symbols that only other slaves would understand. They did this to stay out of trouble by their owners. As you can see those songs showed us all parts of the past, and let us know how they felt and what they dealt with on a daily basis. I think slavery and slave songs should be so much more important and known about in todays society then it is. Slavery completely switched the world around and warned us of what not to do. Thank you should be told to all slaves because they started a new music genre that you could really truly relate to and understand.
Jamestown was the first successful settlement established by England. It was first built in 1607 and lasted until about 1614. On the first ship, 100 male settlers set off for a new settlement in the New World. Life there at times was hard for various reasons. They did, however, become 7 7 trading partners with the Indians. 80% of Jamestown’s more than 500 settlers that had arrived had been dead by 1611. The reason for this is because of sickness and disease, lack of resources, and where they chose to build their settlement.
The transition, however, was not so smooth. Men and women were attracted to the new cities because of the culture and conveniences that were unavailable to rural communities. Immigrants in particular were eager to get to cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston for these reasons, and to look for better jobs than the ones they had found at home. In fact, without the increase in immigration from 1850 to 1920 (where around 38 million came to America), cities would have expanded at lethargic rates – if at all – due to a decreasing fertility rate and a high rate of infant mortality. Death due to disease was also common. Yet the influx of immigrants managed to make up for these losses, and cities grew exponentially for nearly a century1.
In 1619 a well-known issue was brought to life that is now known as an American catastrophe. In the book Black Southerners, the author John B. Boles doesn’t just provide background of how slavery began or who started it, and doesn’t just rant about the past and how mistreated the African American race was; he goes on to explain how as slavery and racism boosted the families of these slaves began to grow closer to a community and the efficiency and profitability of slavery. He also shows the perspective of not just the slaves, but the bondsmen as well to show the different perspectives throughout this point in time. As far as my generation goes, we all picture slavery as African American’s picking cotton, or doing chores around the house, going
Smith, John. "Settlement Of Jamestown - 1607." The National Center for Public Policy Research. http://www.nationalcenter.org/SettlementofJamestown
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
"Chapter 2 Western Settlement and the Frontier." Major Problems in American History: Documents and Essays. Ed. Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde. 3rd ed. Vol. II: Since 1865. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 37-68. Print.
Examine the condition of African-Americans in the late nineteenth century and explain why the Thirteenth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which were enacted to aid the new freedmen, actually did little.
The early 1800’s was a very important time for America. The small country was quickly expanding. With the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition, America almost tripled in size by 1853. However, even with the amount of land growing, not everyone was welcomed with open arms. With the expansion of the country, the white Americans decided that they needed the Natives out.
The year was 1607, on May 14 a ship have arrive to what is now known as Jamestown. This was the beginning of the United States, yet it doesn’t tell about the hardship these individuals had to endure. These settlers went through obstacles and came out victorious, but at what price. Death, one of the most common word you will see in Jamestown, this was due to the harsh environment that the settlers have encounter. Many factors have influence their survival from the area that have chosen to the kind of health they are experiencing.
The end was nigh for the settlers of Jamestown. In 1607, three English ships housing at least one hundred passengers sailed up the James River forming the first permanent English settlement. But by 1611, eighty percent of the population of Jamestown have died. Why did so many settlers die? There were many causes for this. But three of them were the most effective: Drought, disease, and the choice of passengers.
Many causes fueling America's need to expand and acquire new lands existed. One of the reasons was Americans were experiencing "a large birthrate increase due to immigration. And because agriculture provided the primary economic structure, large f...
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic tensions were created. Religion, labor, and race relations were questioned; populist and progressive thoughts were developed; social Darwinism and nativism movements were launched.
Suffering and hardship are pervasive themes throughout the book, as Douglass shares both the physical and mental torments that he faced as a slave. The Narrative is so full of tales of barbarity and cruelty on the part of the masters that it is difficult to choose which ones to share. There is one incident in which a slave by the name of Demby was brutally beaten by his master, ran to the creek in order to cool his wounds, and was shot by the master for not returning when called. As Douglass describes it, "His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood" (Douglass 246). Readers at the time of the book 's release must have been moved by such tales; they were not inclined to think of slaves as human beings capable of such suffering, but Douglass provided them with undeniable proof that a slave is as much a human being as they were. This message is important to keep in mind today, as we are taught to fear or despise groups who are different from us in some way; Douglass ' Narrative shows us that human beings have much more in common than their differences would suggest. The endurance is best expressed through the fact that at the hardest times and when the slaves felt they were at their lowest, they would sing songs while they worked. These songs were not sung out of joy, but out of sadness and to pass the time as the slaves worked. “The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (Douglass 242). As we can see, Douglass and other slaves in his situation lived through indignity and pain that is difficult to imagine. At the same time, they found ways to preserve their sense of themselves and their culture, which we are able to read about and admire in Douglass '
In conclusion, the use of a black man’s story through white eyes is unacceptable as it fails to convey the true story behind the ballad. It fails to show the struggles of the people working on the railroads driving steel, the reason it was made and passed down, and the suffering that John Henry endured, knowing that he was destined to live a life driving