Spirituals

The spirituals developed at the end of the 17th century on the american cotton fields. These fields were especially in the southern States, such as Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. The slaves that worked on these cotton fields were of African origin and often they were very badly treated. On the vast cotton fields, under the blazing sun, originate the so-called ‘ negro-spirituals ‘. These were spiritual songs in which the slaves could express all their feelings of joy and sorrow, despair but also hope for a better future. On the cotton fields the black slaves were not allowed to talk to each other, but singing was. The ‘ negro-spirituals ‘ arose because the slaves mixed their African music, song and dance with the Presbyterian church music and song. This Presbyterian music was brought from England into the new world and was adhered to by the slave owners and preached.
In series and films about the American civil war, where slavery is often the main battle point was, you often see images of the ‘ precentor ‘ in the cotton calling a song than repeated by the others.

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