Forced to labor long and hard on the plantations against their will, African slaves would sing and chant in their native tongues as they worked. ... "Pioneers such as Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Mississippi Fred McDowell helped to create a unique and powerful sound that is still popular today." ... With the help of the African culturally influenced beats form drums, rhythms, and themes of songs a great and powerful style was born which was adopted by "Americans" and then called "American music". ...

• Word Count: 1385
• Approx Pages: 6

The content of these sermons was often consistent with themes from the Old Testament concentrating on deliverance, such as Moses and Joshua, which were the same stories that the white slaveholders wanted to shield from the minds of their slaves. ... Dark and dismal is the cloud that hangs over thee; for thy cruel wrongs and injuries to the fallen sons of Africa. ... Levine's study, Black Culture and Black Consciousness, suggests there was a "widespread conversion of slaves to Christianity by the time of the Civil War".15 More recent opinions however state that the slaves, though influen...

• Word Count: 1954
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate