Portland Observar Section II February 26.1661 Page 7
RICHARD ALLEN o f Philadelphia (1760-1831), who
is chiefly noted fo r organizing and heading the first
congregation o f the African Methodist Episcopal Zion
church was acutely aware o f this. He collected hymns
that he felt would appeal to his Black congregation.
Printed by John O rm rod in 1801, it was entitled: A
Collection o f Spiritual Songs and Hymns Selected from
Various A uthors by Richard A lien. African Minister.
Because Allen's counterpart in the South at that time
had little or no access to a hymnal fo r his
“ congregation,” it may be assumed that he or his lead
singer was the composer o f many religious songs.
It should be noted that long before the white man en
tered Africa as slavers, explorers, or missionaries, there
was a widespread belief in a Supreme Being, and each
village had its “ minister” or priest. This allowed for an
easier transferrance in the New Land, not the ad
monitions or forces o f the white master. Here, in the
States, ministers enjoyed the same leadership role as did
those priests in Africa. This helps to explain why many
insurrections were instigated or led by religious men.
Two o f the more famous were Nat Turner and Denmark
Vesey.
Thus, out o f the meger o f the slaves’ songs from
A frica and their experience in the New Land, came a
form o f music about which much has been written: The
S p iritu al. Recognized as a form o f communal com
munication, this music has served to bind a people as
does all folk music; for folk music is a music that re
flects the tastes and feelings o f a community rather than
individual emotions.
The spiritual’ s close relationship between the singer
(slave) and Jesus m ight be explained by th e ir com
m on ality: both had been “ buked (rebuked) and
scorned, tortured in some manner, and forced to accept
unjust, heavy punishment. This is why he is the diety
most often mentioned in the spiritual: He was deemed
most sympathetic to their plight.
JOHN LOVELL. JR ., in his definitive book on Afro-
American spirituals. Black Song: The Forge and the
Flame wrote that music “ ...blended the experiences and
poetic imaginations o f one folk group and created songs
for the human heart.” He further states that the “ pur
pose” o f the spiritual are:
I. To give the com m unity a true, valid and useful
song.
1. To keep the Community invigorated.
3. To inspire the unispired individual.
4. To enable the group to face its problems.
5. To stir each member to personal solutions and to a
sense o f belonging in the m idst o f a confusing and
terrifying world.
6. To provide a code language for emergency use.
Recognizing the inherent danger for foment that the
slaves’ religious services (or any form o f assemblage)
and the singing o f sp iritua ls presented, they were
banned in some areas o f the South as early as the 1830s.
Most particularly did the Black Methodists come under
fire, for they had acquired considerable strength and
were thought to be behind the Vesey plot. So too were
drums prohibited due to the fear that they would be
used as a means o f communicating information. To cir
cumvent this, meetings had to be held in the woods at
night, or in a secure b u ild in g w ith guards posted.
Singing was done into a glass or pot filled with water to
absorb the sound. Whatever the inconveniences were,
they were not enough fo prevent the need from being
fulfilled.
As has been observed throughout this paper, music
had been one o f the primary forces in a slave’ s life. As
a century progressed, more docum entation became
available.
In the South during the earlier decades, entertainment
for slaves on the plantation was chiefly offered by in
dividual instrumentalists (mostly fiddlers or banjoists)
with the group joining in with singing, dancing, or “ pat
ting.” The latter was a method where the feet were tap
ped, as well as the thighs and shoulders, by the hands in
an in trica te and precise syncopated rhythm . (M ore
recently, it is known as “ hamboning” ).
However, in New Orleans, there was a section o f the
C ity called Congo Square (since renamed Beauregard
Square). Here, on Sundays or holy days, whites, who
were tourists or locals, came to watch the “ wildest danc
in g ". The slaves would congregate by tribes to form
circles where they would perform a dance or “ shuffle”
that was peculiar to West Africa.
Hours w ould go by, w ith any who fe ll from
exhaustion quickly replaced by another. O f course, the
chief instrument, sim ilar to the B anjar or Banjo was
made from a calabash. The instrumentalists were within
the ring. “ Incessant chanting and the exciting music...”
according to an 1808 report, created a state o f frenzy
within the participants. This same report stated that, at
sundown “ ...the city partols show themselves with their
cutlasses, and the crowds immediately dispersed.” “ Ac
c o rd in g ly ,” Langston Hughes mused, “ some
musicologists believed that jazz was born before sunset
in Congo Square. Certainly the basic beat was there all
day long.”
Such entertainment for slaves was chiefly lim ited to
the exotic city o f New Orleans, w ith its largest Black
population in any American city; fo r one-third o f its
inhabitants, about 12,000 were Black. It also had a
peculiar caste system based upon color and status: free
or slave.
The free people (creoles o f color as they were known)
and free Blacks o f unmixed parentage, indulged in more
sophiscated or genteel pursuits. Perhaps to clearly
delineate their status, they eschewed the more African
inspired music fo rjh e European variety. In almost every
household there was a piano, and some member
was
able to acquit h im /h e rs e lf well enough to entertain
family and friends. Voice lessons were also taken to in
dulge the petted young ladies o f these m iddle-class
creoles.
At the white ball, opera houses and thratres, sections
were often set aside for the Blacks, and they were almost
always Tilled to capacity.
So seriously did many music lovers and accomplished
instrum entalists view their music, that the Negro
Philharmonic Society was formed with over 100 mem
bers. It served a double purpose; the one just stated, and
it prevented those who truly found racial discrimination
distasteful from having to attend segregated p erfor
mances at the white theaters. In addition to performing
at concerts in their own building, the Society acted as
booking agents for visiting performers.
Paul Robeson
1898-1976
Abott & Simpson
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