Songs as Historical Documentation
Fig.12. This music cover
demonstrates slaves dancing to music
a reactional moment.
(Winner's Improved Method)
demonstrates slaves dancing to music
a reactional moment.
(Winner's Improved Method)
Lyrics of slave songs gave the slaves a voice that would have been otherwise silent due to laws. Many of these songs have been published for modern people’s interpretations of the slaves’ grueling times in history.
While reading these lyrics, the viewer can use their own imagination to put themselves in the footsteps of the slaves, allowing more feelings of awareness and empathy. These songs serve as lyrical poetry and lead one vicariously inside the minds of slaves.
"...words which to many would seem unmeaning jargon but which nevertheless were full of meaning to themselves." (Douglass 39).
Without the publishing of these lyrics, as well as fictional and non-fictional books, modern people may not have ever known of the slaves encounters with hardships and bravery. These songs tell a story and are a truthful documentation of their history. The songs of the slaves were spread through generations, later influencing music to come.
While reading these lyrics, the viewer can use their own imagination to put themselves in the footsteps of the slaves, allowing more feelings of awareness and empathy. These songs serve as lyrical poetry and lead one vicariously inside the minds of slaves.
"...words which to many would seem unmeaning jargon but which nevertheless were full of meaning to themselves." (Douglass 39).
Without the publishing of these lyrics, as well as fictional and non-fictional books, modern people