Spirituals

==Overview==

==Overview==

[[Image:Sketchofdouglass.jpg|thumb|left|Engraving of [[Frederick Douglass|Douglass]] from his 1845 narrative]]

[[Image:Frontispiece of Frederick Douglass in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845).jpg|thumb|left|Engraving of [[Frederick Douglass|Douglass]] from his 1845 narrative]]

In his 1845 ''[[Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave]]'', an essay on abolition and a memoire, [[Frederick Douglass]] (1818–1895)—a great orator—described slave songs as telling a "tale which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains… Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds."<ref name="Douglas_1844">{{cite book |title=Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave |date=1844|author=[[Frederick Douglass]]}}</ref> His ''Narrative'', which is the most famous of the stories written by former enslaved at that time, is one of the most influential pieces of literature that acted as a catalyst in the early years of the American abolitionist movement, according to the [[OCLC]] entry. Slave songs were called "[[Sorrow songs]]" by [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] in his 1903 book, ''[[The Souls of Black Folk]]''.<ref name="DuBois_SorrowSongs_1904">[https://www.learner.org/series/amerpass/unit07/authors-9.html "Sorrow Songs"], ''American Passages: A Literary Survey'', Annenberg Learner. Retrieved September 9, 2019.</ref><ref name="APT_Kirkland_2015">{{cite journal |first=Paul E. |last=Kirkland |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/682046?mobileUi=0 |title=Sorrow Songs and Self-Knowledge: The Politics of Recognition and Tragedy in W.E.B. Du Bois's ''Souls of Black Folk'' |journal=American Political Thought |volume = 4 |number=3 |date=Summer 2015|pages=412–437 |doi=10.1086/682046 |s2cid=155920736 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In his 1845 ''[[Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave]]'', an essay on abolition and a memoire, [[Frederick Douglass]] (1818–1895)—a great orator—described slave songs as telling a "tale which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains… Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds."<ref name="Douglas_1844">{{cite book |title=Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave |date=1844|author=[[Frederick Douglass]]}}</ref> His ''Narrative'', which is the most famous of the stories written by former enslaved at that time, is one of the most influential pieces of literature that acted as a catalyst in the early years of the American abolitionist movement, according to the [[OCLC]] entry. Slave songs were called "[[Sorrow songs]]" by [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] in his 1903 book, ''[[The Souls of Black Folk]]''.<ref name="DuBois_SorrowSongs_1904">[https://www.learner.org/series/amerpass/unit07/authors-9.html "Sorrow Songs"], ''American Passages: A Literary Survey'', Annenberg Learner. Retrieved September 9, 2019.</ref><ref name="APT_Kirkland_2015">{{cite journal |first=Paul E. |last=Kirkland |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/682046?mobileUi=0 |title=Sorrow Songs and Self-Knowledge: The Politics of Recognition and Tragedy in W.E.B. Du Bois's ''Souls of Black Folk'' |journal=American Political Thought |volume = 4 |number=3 |date=Summer 2015|pages=412–437 |doi=10.1086/682046 |s2cid=155920736 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>