I just turned in the essay and thought I would post it here as well to see what y'all think and if I will get a good grade on this. No edits from the original; this is exactly what I wrote and turned in. (Okay, I lied.) I couldn't get the work cited to look like it should for MLA format on here, but all of my MLA format things on the original paper are correct. Names are changed for privacy reasons. Pen name is used.) Please give constructive critism and be nice about this. I am insecure and worried about this.
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Erin Quinn
Professor Redacted
African American Literature
October 6, 2025
Spirituals: Their Hidden Messages
Many people may see spirituals as just songs that were used to praise and worship the Christian god that African American slaves were introduced to, but what they might not realize is that their were actually encoded secret messages within these ‘songs of praise’. Words like “home”, “Israel”, the name “Moses”, and many more were used to send messages between each other to escape slavery, while also connecting the enslaved who might not speak the same language. They are connected by the rhythms and beats of the spirituals, which were used in all regions of African music. These spirituals are crucial to African American history, culture, and community and are amazing pieces of literature that shaped many African American slaves’ stories. Analyzing two different spirituals and their meanings emphasize the level of influence that all spirituals had for African American slaves and will explain why spirituals are still relevant and important today.
Opening with the spiritual “Steal Away to Jesus” (16-17), the title already utilizes many symbolic words that are used as codes for the enslaved. The phrase, “steal away to Jesus”, meant that the enslaved were making plans in secret to leave towards freedom, the North. Other phrases and words like “home”, “I ain’t got long to stay here”, and “The trumpet sounds within-a my soul”, also meant similar things. The word “home” symbolized the North, meaning they wanted to escape to the North, where they would be free. The first phrase, “I ain’t got long to stay here”, meant they were planning to leave soon, to escape the South. Finally, the phrase “The trumpet sounds within-a my soul”, symbolized an awakening, confirmation/affirmation that they were set on escaping. This spiritual also shows something that will be seen in almost every spiritual ever made: the repetition of words and phrases. This repetition was used to emphasis certain words to pass along the message, and to make the songs easier to learn and spread. The California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) summarizes this well by stating, “The call-and-response structure, a common feature in African music, facilitated communal participation and served as a dynamic form of data relay”.
Another spiritual that utilizes symbolism and data relay is “Go Down, Moses” (14-15). Going through the spiritual, some words and phrases that are symbols are, “Go down, Moses”, “Egyptland”, “Pharaoh”, “To let my people go”, and “Israel”. “Go down, Moses” meant that they wanted abolitionists and conductors, guides of the underground railroad, to come down South. Moses usually referred to the conductor Harriet Tubman, the ‘stealer of slaves’, who was active from 1850 to 1861, and used the code name Moses. The Library of Congress even states, “A spiritual that was certainly used as a code for escape to freedom was “Go Down, Moses,” used by Harriet Tubman to identify herself to slaves who might want to flee north”. The connections between these words, phrases, the enslaved, and the people freeing them is a part of history that makes spirituals so important to recognize. Some other words used in this spiritual were: “Egyptland” was another word for the South and the enslaved states, “Israel” were the enslaved African Americans, and “Pharaoh” was code for slave master. In the first three lines of this poem, it is clear what the message was. The last line in every stanza declared “To let my people go”, giving away the intention of the spiritual clearly: ‘we want to leave and be saved’. In the footnotes of page 14 it even states that a scholar in 1953 found that this song was so direct and clear in its intention that many slave plantations banned the spiritual, showing that they were afraid of an uprise and didn’t want the enslaved to try anything. This spiritual not only shows the intention of data relay, but also African American history, culture, and community.
African American spirituals may use the terms and religion of Christianity, but they still have deep roots in African culture. The usage of rhythm and beats that were the core of African music carried over to most African American culture and music, including spirituals. Spirituals built community by connecting the enslaved, even in the beginning when they didn’t speak the same language. The U.S. Language Services LLC goes further into this topic by writing, “In order to prevent clandestine organization and revolt, they made intentional efforts to prevent communication in two major ways: by separating speakers of the same language, sometimes intentionally splitting up families and sending them to different colonies, and by prohibiting the speaking of anything but English.” Knowing all of the history of spirituals and what they meant to the enslaved also helps the United States learn from their past mistakes. The spread of spirituals continue even today, as they can be found online and are still sang to this day. The Library of Congress even reports that the Jubilee Singers, from Fisk University of Nashville, Tennessee, spread spirituals after the Civil War all across the United States and Europe, birthing a tradition that still strong today. Without the spirituals that the Jubilee Singers toured with, Nashville, Tennessee would not even have the name Music City, so spirituals still have a hand even in our state capital’s nickname that is known all over the United States.
To say that spirituals have only a little part of African American history, culture, and community would be an understatement. It not only plays a huge part in these things, but also in the United States history as well. The secret, encoded messages within them freed so many enslaved African Americans, but also served as a cultural and communal symbol throughout the South that connected slaves that didn’t speak the same languages and had almost no way of communication. The roots in the rhythms, beats, etc derive from Africa, also connecting all of the enslaved. Spirituals are still sang today, with their meanings still being represented and remembered all throughout the United States.
Work Cited111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkof25rDE4
“Go Down, Moses.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis and Valerie Smith, 1997. 3rd ed., vol. 1, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 14-15.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61d9nVq2EV
Library of Congress. “African American Spirituals.” The Library of Congress, 2015, www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31gqZTQTCe
LLC, U. S. Language Services. “The Languages Spoken by the First Slaves.” U.S. Language Services, 12 July 2023, www.uslanguageservices.com/blog/the-languages-spoken-by-the-first-slaves/.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsiJlRdQvc
“Steal Away to Jesus.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis and Valerie Smith, 1997. 3rd ed., vol. 1, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 16-17.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLzCFbrbn0
Team, CLRN. “How Did African American Slaves Use Music? - California Learning Resource Network.” California Learning Resource Network, 7 Jan. 2025, www.clrn.org/how-did-african-american-slaves-use-music/.
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