Underground Railroad Songs

Underground railroad song lyrics follow the drinking gourd story.

Underground railroad songs. The underground railroad a widespread group of people including escaped american slaves and helpers during the 19th century formed a secret organisation to conduct escaping slaves north to canada south to mexico and into us states where slavery was illegal songs sung by african americans in this period are said to have contained coded instructions and maps to find the way to freedom. The song s title is said to refer to the star formation an asterism known in america as the big dipper and in europe as the plough. According to american folklore this song was a musical map which led fugitive slaves north to freedom. They were taught by a man known as peg leg joe.

August 21 2019 the maryland park service national park service and the national council for the traditional arts are proud to offer a free performance by sunpie the louisiana sunspots on thursday september 5 at 3pm under the pavilion at the harriet tubman underground. The lyrics were instructions on how to get to safety. For a history of the song see http www followthe. Coded songs contained words giving directions on how to escape also known as signal songs or where to meet known as map songs.

The young slaves would use to song to know when it is safe to run and where it is safe to go. Songs used biblical references and analogies of biblical people places and stories comparing them to their own history of slavery. Songs from the underground railroad. Smithsonian kids follow us on instagram.

It is very likely that both signal songs and map songs were utilized in combination with any number of other clandestine communication tools including the extensive use of symbols sewn onto quilts that assisted prospective passengers on the underground railroad in rehearsing the specific places that would need to be reached for a successful trip to safety in the north or canada. Songs of the underground railroad last updated february 02 2020 polaris the north star is found by imagining a line from merak β to dubhe α and then extending it for five times the distance after dubhe α to polaris α ursae minoris. As it was illegal in most slave states to teach slaves to read or write songs were used to communicate messages and directions about when where. Read more about underground railroad secret code language.

Songs of the underground railroad were spiritual and work songs used during the early to mid 19th century in the united states to encourage and convey coded information to escaping slaves as they moved along the various underground railroad routes.