Songs of Slavery

In the ante-bellum South, communication between slaves often had to be hidden. Slave owners tried to limit communication between slaves as much as possible in order to prevent planning of escape or rebellion, and even in places where talking wasn't expressly forbidden there were still messages better kept secret.

Slave communities devised many ingenious methods for communicating, often methods that could be used in plain sight of their captors. Quilt codes were one method. Songs were a more widely available and generally useful method. In fact, many songs that might be familiar today as spirituals started out as code camoflage.

These songs are often described in broad categories, though few would fit into only one of these.

• A call/response, or field holler song had a leader and followers. It was quite useful for passing along messages and information about the community, or about slaves on other plantations or news about escapees. "I got a letter" is a good example.

  Call: I got a letter this morning.
  Response: Oh, yes!
  Call: I got a letter this morning.
  Response: Oh, yes!
  Call: John is Caanan* bound!
  

• Some songs contained hidden messages. Follow the drinking gourd had a whole escape plan in it, for example.
• Sometimes the song itself would have a meaning even when the lyrics in it didn't. Go down Moses and Steal Away to Jesus both indicated an imminent escape attempt. Swing Low Sweet Chariot meant you were willing to escape if anyone else was, too. There's a great discussion of this at The trumpet sounds within in-a my soul, I ain't going to stay here.
• There were also what were called zipper songs, well known songs whose words you could change to transmit a specific message. Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a good example. (More examples at the zipper song write-up.)

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* Caanan = Canada Code within code, see?