Musical Inspirations
Spirituals —a type of religious folk song —combined African musical heritage with Christian hymns and are one of the largest and most influential forms of American folk music. The genre emerged during the late 18th century through the experience of African Americans during the period of enslavement in the American South. Frederick Douglass spoke of singing spirituals in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845):
"I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do… To those songs, I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery… Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds…"