The Evolution of African-American Gospel Music in America

African American religious music is generally said to have originated from the time of slavery where Africans were brought to America to work on plantations. They were forced to adopt the language and religion of their masters, sing their songs, and in the process manifest their musical instincts in a body of songs known as the spirituals. Spirituals are often referred to as "sorrow songs" because many of them express the lamentations of Africans kidnapped from their motherland and brought to America to live a horrible life of slavery. They also represent great belief, hope, and faith f…