Thesis: I believe spirituals are the most influential genre. I say this because if it weren’t for this genre a lot of music that we know wouldn’t be created.
Unit 2
Within this unit I learned that slave owners allowed slaves to sing. They only allowed them to do that because they knew slaves would work harder when they sing. A type of slave song that was very popular during this time was railroad songs. These were formally known as call and response this helped pushed the railroads inro proper alignment.
Unit 3
In all slavery formed African American spirituals were created. This was such a crucial moment in history because this was the only way for African Americans to express themselves. African American spirituals gave slaves the chance to reveal their emotions and what was going on around them. Slaves weren’t allowed to bring items from Africa during the transatlantic slave trade. The only thing they were able to bring was the banjo just to entertain the whites on the ships. Eventually slaves songs became popular and the songs were performed internationally by Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville. Then transitioning from that period to the Jim Crow era. And the emergence of two new musical genres which was blues and ragtime. Then stereotypes started to surround this genre of music. Whites began to make fun of this genre by putting on black faces and mocking blacks in their menstrual shows. African American spirituals has influenced the creation of many more genres such as gospel and Rhythm and Blues. And even in present day spirituals are still being used in some type of form because most of these genres are still in existence.
Conclusion : African American spirituals have left an everlasting impact on the black community and not just that but the world world.
