Traditionally, the song structure of Gospel stems from Negro Spirituals. Songs written by African American composers in the decades following emancipation that focused on biblical themes and often drew from spirituals were the source for the development of Gospel. Deep down in the south blacks were persecuted, faced harsh living standards, and unfair economic setbacks. Living like this, it is only natural for you to rely on the Lord or some type of outside external force for the non-religious. They relied on church as a method of coping with their reality. From slavery when they sung negro spirituals now, The way of life for blacks in the south was simple work, school, and church on Sundays.
A key figure in the development of Gospel was Thomas A. Dorsey(1899-19993) who is considered to be the father of gospel. He helped the form in Chicago and was was the son of a Georgia Baptist preacher. Before devoting his life to the gospel genre, he was a prolific blues and jazz singer. This influenced his composing style greatly.
Due to the similarities with the blues genre Dorsey’s style was challenged from the church establishment. The black religious leaders constantly rejected Dorsey’s style because of the widely frowned upon secular music styles known like blues, ragtime, and jazz.