Slave Songs of the United States

By William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, Charles Pickard Ware

Book Overview

"Slave Songs of the United States" is a landmark collection of African American music, representing the first systematic effort to preserve the spirituals and melodies born out of the experience of enslaved people in America. Compiled by William Francis Allen and his colleagues, this volume features over 130 songs, including both the music and lyrics, captured directly from singers in the South and the Sea Islands during the mid-19th century.

The work serves as an invaluable primary source for understanding the cultural, social, and religious life of the African American community. From soul-stirring spirituals to rhythmic work songs, these pieces reflect a profound history of resilience, faith, and artistic expression. By documenting these oral traditions, "Slave Songs of the United States" ensured that a vital part of American musical heritage was preserved for future study and appreciation.

It remains an essential text for students of ethnomusicology, American history, and African American studies, offering a direct window into the powerful vocal traditions that would eventually influence the development of jazz, blues, and gospel music. This collection stands as a testament to the enduring power of song as a vessel for history and identity.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025471083
• ISBN13: 9781025471082
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Historically signficant with many unknown gems

Originally published in 1867 and reprinted in a more modern edition, this book of Slave Songs provides insights into performance practice and African-American cultural of the middle of the 19th century. Following the dialect and the purpose of each song as presented in the introductory material is a bit challenging but also rewarding. Especially fascinating was the explanation on the "shout" and the use of the music in religious settings. Meaningful as a primary source and a direct understanding of the use of the language in music, this book of songs is an important and necessary resource for historians of African-American music. Aside from some of the musical flaws in the notation, the music is generally clear with a nice balance of text and actual music. Thankfully this book exists, for without it, much of this music would be lost due to its lack of usage in modern culture. A careful study reveals many great and meaningful songs virtually unknown in today's world. Perhaps some of the songs could and should be included in the canon of fine American folk music.

A trove

There are 136 songs in this book, most of which are no longer sung. They are simply amazing, musically and theologically. An example: "Come and Go With Me", collected in Augusta, GA, presents a major scale with a flat 6th and 7th, and the tune ends on the 4th. Unfortunately, the collectors, as went on for generations as standard procedure, did not acknowledge the names of any of their sources. The original "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is in here; it is a rowing song from the sea islands, addressed to the archangel Michael as a prayer for safe passage; these lyrics are more striking than the familiar ones. Here are the complete lyrics to "Come and Go With Me", which is singular both in its scale and its notion that heaven is in the present, to be accepted rather than earned: Ole Satan is a busy ole man He roll stones in my way Master Jesus is my bosom friend He roll 'em out my way Oh, come and go with me Oh, come and go with me Oh, come and go with me A-walking in the heaven I roam I did not come here myself my Lord It was my Lord who brought me here And I really do believe I'm a child of God A-walking in the heaven I roam Oh, come and go with me Oh, come and go with me Oh, come and go with me A-walking in the heaven I roam It was reported that the freed slaves did not want to remember their old songs. And we all have reasons for forgetting a painful past. But look at these songs; they are the heart and soul's truth of life. It is not too late to learn from these people. Put this music in your heart. Water spring that never dry, Hallelu, Hallelu The more we dig, the more it spring, Hallelujah!

An Exceptional Tool

Those who love spirituals often find the origins of spirituals in general to be elusive, if not impossible to track with any degree of reliability. Though this collection of spirituals is quite limited in terms of being highly localized (versus attempting to comprehend all of the spirituals of all of the South), it covers many of the best-loved Negro spirituals. Published first in 1867, it provides perhaps the strongest link for the largest grouping of spirituals, contemporaneous (or nearly so) with the music it attempts to capture. For those who love the Negro spiritual, this is a 'must have' for your collection.

A great historical account of forgotten American History

This book gives great insight in to the true meaning of African American slaves songs. This book also discusses the origin and uses of the songs and provides footnotes for most of the colloquials and variations in dialect for each song.