Jim Thomas Presents the Secret Messages Found in U.S. Slave Songs

♪ Elliott: Oh, freedom ♪

♪ Oh, freedom... ♪

Narrator: As part of the Celebrate Stafford
350th anniversary celebration

a Motor Coach Tour explored
the Trail to Freedom.

At Chatham, visitors toured the grounds

and the stories that impacted the many
Stafford residents of African descent.

These included John Washington,

whose life was depicted by professional
musician and actor Elliott Dash,

who also joined performer Jim Thomas

for a Concert on the Lawn at Chatham.

♪ ... in my grave, ♪

♪ And go home to my Lord and be free ♪

John: Jim Thomas is a graduate
of Fisk University in Tennessee.

He was a member
of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Perhaps some of you saw
the Fish Jubilee Singers

when we brought them
here a couple of years ago.

Performed at Mary Washington, University of
Mary Washington, to a full house.

Over 1000 people in attendance.

And he had the honor that night
of saying a few words about his

his alma mater and,
but Jim has taken at his,

on as one of his life's missions.

The understanding of the
music that was sung by

slaves and their descendants
deep with meaning.

Sprinkled with symbolism
that mattered a great deal to those slaves.

A source of comfort, and joy, and hope
over decades and even lifetimes.

These songs persisted within a culture that

oftentimes white owners
had little idea what it was about.

And so it is one of my great joys
to present to you today, Mr. Jim Thomas.

Jim: Good afternoon.

I'd like to just spend a bit [of] time with you

on the brilliance of the slaves
who created the slave songs,

later known as the Spirituals,
and talk about that context

which is rarely rarely talked about.

The first group of slaves arrived in the U.S., here in Virginia, in 1619.

In 1619. They were young.

A group of 20.

They were told,
you will work together all day and not talk.

Teenagers. Did you hear me? Teenagers.

Now, if you were to say
that to teenagers today,

they would say "OK" and then
they would do what?

[laughter from crowd]
A woman: Text

Jim: Now, it is easiest for you to understand
the concept of the Spirituals

when you understand that the Spirituals
were an early form of texting.

They were driven
to communicate with each other.

What the slave owners didn't get
right away, thankfully,

is that in Africa
all information is virtually sung

in one of three styles.

The first style you're very familiar with,
caller response.

I say ♪ hellooo ♪

and you say?
♪ audience: hellooo ♪

Jim: Caller response.

Then there is the syncopated.

♪ Every time I ♪

♪ feel the spirit ♪

♪ moving in my heart ♪

♪ I will pray ♪

♪ Every time I ♪

♪ feel the spirit ♪

♪ moving in my heart ♪

♪ I will pray-yy. ♪

So the song begins one beat
into the measure. Syncopating.

So that's two styles.

And then the third style,
it's the slow, gradual opening chord,

♪ Nobody knows ♪

♪ the trouble I've seen. ♪

No call, no response.
Just a gradual opening chord. Got it?

There will be a test later.
[laughter from crowd]

No one leaves the hill
without understanding.

So those were the three
styles sung in Africa

to give directions to villiages,

to talk about, births,
deaths, current happenings,

any information you wanted
people to know were sung.

Now, here on the plantations
the master and mistress

duefully went to church.

They were heavy believers.

Every Sunday
they carried with them

the carriage driver,
the nursemaids, the cooks.

They sat in the back,
and they watched and listened,

and they notice that
the master and mistress

seemed to be moved by
the language of the church.

And they decided to test this
by taking that language

and singing it
in the kitchens and in the fields,

and they quickly found
that they could use that language

and communicate anything under the sun
they wanted and go undetected.

Thus the creation of the Spirituals.
Got it?

Oh, there were four
folks that didn't get it.

[laughter from crowd]

You have to understand that principle,
that's important.

Somebody had to create them.

See, a lot of you have been singing these
your entire lives without

understanding how they were created.

Understand that.
Be able to transmit it to the young.

They were brilliant
in translating how messages

were moved on in song
from Africa to this culture.

And it had to be done
by those who watched

and listened to the master
and mistress at church.

So Black Spirituals were born
out of the white church. Interesting.

Some people will wish to tackle me,
and ask me questions about that later.

And that's fine, that's fine.

There were descriptions
of crossing the Atlantic,

descriptions of crossing the Atlantic,
that they wanted to pass on to others.

They wanted people to know
that this was not their native home.

That their home was over Jordan.

Sometimes called Canaan,
sometimes called Heav'n, in the Spirituals.

But I'd like for Elliott to help us listen to
a description of the Middle Passage.

One of the earliest Spirituals.

♪ Elliott: Deep river ♪

♪ My home is over Jordan. ♪

♪ Deep river, ♪

♪ Lord, I want to crossover into Canaan. ♪

♪ Deep river, ♪

♪ my home over Jordan. ♪

♪ Deep river, ♪

♪ Lord, I want to crossover into Canaan. ♪

♪ Oh, don't you want to go? ♪

♪ to that Gospel-feast? ♪

♪ That Promised Land ♪

♪ where all is peace. ♪

♪ Ohhhh, Deep river, ♪

♪ Lord, I want to crossover into Canaan ♪

[applause]
Jim: Thanks

[feedback]

One description
of arriving here across the Atlantic.

There were several other descriptions
that described the crossing.

Roll, Jordan, Roll was one, and then

♪ Oh, wasn't that a wide river, ♪

♪ River Jordan, Lord? ♪

♪ Wide river, ♪

♪ there's one more river to cross. ♪

♪ Oh, the good old chariot is a passing by, ♪

♪ one more river to cross. ♪

♪ It jarred the earth and it shook the sky, ♪

♪ One more River to cross. ♪

♪ Oh, wasn't that a wide river? ♪

♪ River of Jordan, Lord, ♪

♪ Wide river. ♪

♪ there's one more river to cross. ♪

[applause]

So they learned that they could describe
that crossing and pass it down.

What were some of the other codes?

"Down yonder," ~"hayle"~,

H-E-L-L, hell,
sometimes I don't say it

where it sounds as fierce
as it's supposed to,

[laughter from audience]

but that was meaning
being sold farther South.

"Winter" and "Babylon" were also included.

"Winter", "Babylon", "hell",
being sold farther South.

"Angels".

Now, it past your ear
because of the beauty of it

when Elliott sang to you earlier
about Angels.

I'll remind you.
See, I've told you there be a test.

Now, so if you forget it again,
you won't go.

And it'll be colder tonight.

[loud laughter from audience]

Harriet Tubman had two slave
songs attached to her name.

At first she was called "Moses".

And so when they would sing,
Go Down Moses,

that meant that Harriet was nearby
to conduct them into freedom.

But when an informer,

the master was able to give them
a little extra piece of fatback

or little extra liqu'a,

and get one or two people
to serve as informers.

So, I think when they singing about Moses
they talking about Harriet.

And they wanted Harriet,... Bad.

Put a price on ha' head.
Never got her.

The informer was disappeared.
Slaves didn't like the informers.

And after the informer was disappeared,

they changed Harriet's name
from Moses to Sweet Chariot.

Now, you noticed when Elliot sang
about Sweet Chariot,

you got to the verse,

"I looked over Jordan and what did I see?"

"a band of..."?

Audience: Angels.
Jim: Angels.

Now, angels appear quite often
in slave songs, yes?

They were conductors
on the Underground Railroad.

"A band of angels coming forth to.."?

Audience: Carry me home.
Jim: Carry me home.

And home either meant North to freedom,
or back to Africa.

That was the code.

I know. I know, it's stunning to some
and not to others.

They also described conditions,

like many of them had
very bad conditions in slavery

where they were beaten and whipped

and salt put in the wounds
to make it hurt even more.

And they would sing,

♪ I've been butte
and I've been in scorn. ♪

A condition. Or,

♪ Soon I will be done ♪

♪ with the troubles of the world ♪

Conditions.

♪ Sometimes I feel ♪

♪ like a motherless child ♪

Conditions.

Those descriptions
included in the body of a song,

which they could sing all day.
It was OK to sing.

They' happy. They' singin'.
Maybe they' getting converted.

[laughter from audience]

Sometimes...

the slaves...

had to describe events

that were dangerous for them.

A couple of really dangerous events
here in Virginia,

one was the Nat Turner insurrection
that some of you have heard about.

Yes, I know there are two or three of you
that haven't heard about them.

[laughter from the audience]

1831.

Down.. near.. just beyond Hampton.

Now, the slaves,

anybody who was associated
with Nat Turner

would have been taken away

and probably hung, or killed,
or severely punished.

And so if they really appreciated
what he had done

they couldn't let anybody know.

And there were a number of songs
about Nat Turner,

and some of them
you sing today.

One was,

♪ Were you there ♪

♪ when they crucified m'lord? ♪

Oh? It's "m'lord," Nat Turner.

One is, and they called him John,

♪ I wanna be ready, ♪

♪ I wanna be ready, ♪

♪ I wanna be ready ♪

♪ to walk in Jerusalem just like... ♪

Just like whome?

Audience: John.
Jim: Just like John.

Now, there is a town
down South in Virginia

whose name is now,

the County seat, is Cortland.

And have you ever been to Cortland?
You've heard of it?

I know some of you are well read.

[laughter from audience]

You've, you've heard of Courtland.

But in 1831, the name of the County seat
was not Cortland.

It was Jerusalem.

And so there's also Rock'n Jerusalem.
Do you know the,

♪ Oh, Mary. Oh Martha. ♪

♪ Oh, Mary, ring them bells. ♪

♪ I hear archangels,
a rock'n Jerusalem. ♪

♪ Hear archangels
are ringing them bells. ♪

They're talking about Courtland.
Well, Jerusalem.

The song Witness,

♪ Can I get a witness
for my Lord? ♪

♪ Who will be a witness
for my Lord? ♪

♪ Who will be a witness
for my Lord? ♪

♪ My soul'l be a witness
for my Lord. ♪

"M'lord", Nat Turner.

There's just
a whole string of songs

that described
a very dangerous time,

very dangerous event.

But nobody got it
until after the war.

I'm gonna whip on, so..

There were two or three people
getting a little chilly.

[clears throat]

There were some songs
that were celebrating religion.

Now, this is a sensitive issue,
so don't ask me questions about it later.

[laughter from audience]

We don't know whether we
were talking about African religions,

or whether we were talking
about Christianity, but,

♪ Give me the old time religion, ♪

♪ Give me that old time religion, ♪

♪ Give me that old time religion, ♪

♪ It's good enough for me ♪

You tell me.
Which were they talking about?

[clears throat]

There is another,
however, that makes it clear

that these creators
were talking about,

♪ In the Lord, in the Lord, ♪

♪ My soul's been hankered
in the Lord, ♪

♪ in the Lord ♪

♪ in the Lord, ♪

♪ My soul's been hankered
in the Lord ♪

Now, one that is confusing,
because many of the religious

denominations have now picked it up

and used it at a time
when they either sprinkle

or they immerse
in the water.

♪ Wade in the water, ♪

♪ Wade in the water children, ♪

♪ Wade in the water, ♪

♪ God's a gonna trouble the water ♪

came at the time
of the Underground Railroad.

Had nothing to do about baptism.

[quite chuckles from audience]

It was,
if you were being pursued by bloodhounds,

run as fast as you can
and jump in the water.

[chuckles from the audience]

'Cause the bloodhounds
cannot get your smell

if you are in the water.
So go wade.

So if you hear the dogs bark,
think of water [chuckles] and go wade.

Interesting.

Just about the Underground Railroad,
two additional points.

One song that created
a lot of interest after the war

was a song that gave directions,
gave times for departing,

and when you would arrive
where it was a map that told you

where the rivers were,
and and what to look for at night.

Because the Underground Railroad
prepared people for that long walk.

That walk took a year,
at night,

from the Deep South
to reach the Ohio River.

The song is Follow the Drinking Gourd.

And it states,
"When the sun gets high,"

as it is now,
few of you still have it in your eyes,

"and the first quail calls,"
and the quail is a bird that winters

in the South,
"follow the drinking gourd."

Now, some of you know,
two or three people know,

or maybe one more,
what a drinking gourd is.

A drinking gourd
is something that you dip liquor

..uh, sorry.
[loud laughter from the audience]

Must be on my mind.

[laughter continues]

Uh..liquid with, and you use it to pour,
drinking gourd.

And you equate,
the slaves could identify with

the drinking gourd
because they all had them

in their cabins.
Drinking gourd.

And so if they were
preparing them to escape

they would tell them at night,
look up at the sky

and find the drinking gourd,
the Big Dipper.

For at the apex of the Big Dipper
was the North Star.

And you follow that,
and you must say it 60 times in that song,

Follow the Drinking Gourd.

And it tells you where one River ends,
another River starts.

Follow the drinking gourd.
And they could do that at night.

Now, during the day
they would hide out in public

with their other slaves on different plantations
so that they could get food.

Many times even the overseers didn't know
the faces of all of the slaves

and so they could just
work alongside of them,

get the food that was brought
down from the big house,

and they would be fine.

They were prepared to go
on the Underground Railroad.

They didn't, I mean,
some of them did run away

because they would just had
as much as they could take.

But the majority of the folks were prepared
to go on the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Rail- the organized
Underground Railroad lasted for 30 years.

1830 to 1860.

That's a short time

when you consider the duration
of slavery being, what?

From 1619 to 1865, 246 years.

That's a long, long period of time.

But the organized
Underground Railroad was brief.

[clears throat]

They prepared them,
one of the ways was to

teach them vow songs,
one of the vow songs that sounded

just so very religious was,

♪ Done made my vow to the Lord, ♪

♪ and a never will turn back. ♪

♪ I will go and shall go to see ♪

♪ what the end will be. ♪

"Done made my vow." OK.

I'll ask Elliott to come over
and join me again.

One of the things that
that they did to celebrate,

and they occasionally
had celebrations,

not when they wanted you
to think that the slaves were happy

because they weren't.

They were not happy.

The only thing
they wanted was freedom.

See now we sing,
we sing,

"I woke up this morning with my mind
and it stayed on Jesus."

But you see,
the original was,

"I woke up this morning with my mind
and it was stayed on freedom."

Another that we now sing,

"Give me Jesus,
You may have all this world,"

but the original was,

"Give me freedom.
Give me freedom,"

"You can have all this world,
But give me freedom."

So they've been made into
a lot of different things.

One of the things that they
they did to celebrate

when they heard that some of the folks
who had escaped

on the Underground Railroad had made it,
they would [clears throat] sing

several songs to each other
and that was the cue

that the folks who
escaped had made it.

One was, Study War No More.

♪ I ain't gon' study war no more, ♪

♪ I ain't gon' study war no more, ♪

♪ I ain't gon' study war no more. ♪

♪ I ain't gon' study war no more, ♪

♪ I ain't gon' study war no more, ♪

♪ I ain't gon' study-yy war no more. ♪

One was Down by the Riverside,

♪ Gonna put on my long white robe ♪

♪ down by the riverside, ♪

♪ down by the riverside, ♪

♪ down by the riverside. ♪

♪ Gonna put on my long white robe ♪

♪ down by the riverside, ♪

♪ study-yy war no more. ♪

This next, I'm gonna ask
Elliott to help me with.

Which is very,
very near the end.

I'll slice this because there were
two people that had feet shaking.

[laughter]

One is the Battle Hymn
of the Republic,

which is not a Spiritual
but is related to the start of the Civil War.

John Brown, who finally gave up
his life and sons,

over in Harpers Ferry.
[Elliott coughs]

Afterwards, the troops would sit around
and there were versions of this,

by the way, on both sides,

but the one that took over
was the Union side.

You've heard,

♪ John Brown's body
lies a-room-ditty-ditty, ♪

♪ John Brown's body
da-dada-dada-dada, ♪

♪ John Brown's body
lies a molding in the grave, ♪

♪ his spirit's marching on. ♪

Then it it really evolved into,
and that was in 1859 when that started,

then Julia Ward Howe
heard singing on the Potomac,

over in Alexandria, when she had
walked over from the Willard Hotel

and went back to the Willard Hotel,
sat down and wrote these words,

"Mine eyes have seen the glory"

♪ Elliott: Mine eyes have seen the glory ♪

♪ of the coming of the Lord; ♪

♪ Both: he's trampling out the vintage ♪

♪ where the grapes of wrath are stored; ♪

♪ he hath loosed the fateful lightning ♪

♪ of his terrible swift sword; ♪

♪ his truth is marching on. ♪

♪ Both: Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪
♪ Jim: Glory, ah! ♪

♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪
♪ Glory-ah, Glory-ah! ♪

♪ Elliott: Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪

♪ Both: His truth is marching on ♪

[applause]

Jim: The Great Battle Hymn.

[sighs] And now,
the last one that will do together.

[clears throat] Notice together,
so you can't leave.

[laughter from audience]

Together, is Aman.

And that was their
final celebration.

That their kin had made
it Into freedom.

♪ Amen, amen, amen; ♪

♪ Everyone: Amen, amen, ♪

♪ Jim: See the baby ♪
♪ Others: Amen ♪

♪ lyin in the manger ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ on Christmas morning ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen, amen ♪

♪ See him in the temple ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ talking to the elders; ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ how they marveled at his wisdom ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen, amen ♪

♪ See him on the seashore ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ preachin and a healin ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ to the blind and the feeble. ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen, amen, ♪

♪ Yes, he is m'saviour ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Jesus died to save us, ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ and he rose on easter ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen, amen, ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ In the Kingdom ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ with my saviour ♪
♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen, a-men! ♪

[applause]

Thank you.