Throughout the history of slavery, enslaved people organized resistance,
escape, and rebellion. Sustaining them in this struggle was their music,
some examples of which are sung to this day. While the existence of
slave songs, especially spirituals, is well known, their character is
often misunderstood. Slave songs were not only lamentations of suffering
or distractions from a life of misery. Some songs openly called for
liberty and revolution, celebrating such heroes as Gabriel Prosser and
Nat Turner, and, especially, celebrating the Haitian Revolution.
The fight for freedom also included fugitive slaves, free Black people,
and their white allies who brought forth a set of songs that were once
widely disseminated but are now largely forgotten, the songs of the
abolitionists. Often composed by fugitive slaves and free Black people,
and first appearing in the eighteenth century, these songs continued to
be written and sung until the Civil War. As the movement expanded,
abolitionists even published song books used at public meetings.
Mat Callahan presents recently discovered songs composed by enslaved
people explicitly calling for resistance to slavery, some originating as
early as 1784 and others as late as the Civil War. He also presents
long-lost songs of the abolitionist movement, some written by fugitive
slaves and free Black people, challenging common misconceptions of
abolitionism. Songs of Slavery and Emancipation features the lyrics of
fifteen slave songs and fifteen abolitionist songs, placing them in
proper historical context and making them available again to the general
public. These songs not only express outrage at slavery but call for
militant resistance and destruction of the slave system. There can be no
doubt as to their purpose: the abolition of slavery, the emancipation of
African American people, and a clear and undeniable demand for equality
and justice for all humanity.
