Christianity is an African traditional religion that played a vital role in the formation of American songs of slavery, also known as spirituals. These songs were created by the enslaved Africans in America to express their longing for freedom and preserve African Christian tradition. Within the lyrics of spirituals are coded messages that provided secret information to the enslaved African population. The text of many spirituals came directly from the Bible and speaks of the Spirit working in and through God’s people to set things right. Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) was an African Christian theologian and philosopher whose spiritual authority heavily influenced the development of Western Christianity. Augustine’s writings helped bring together both the Hebrew and Greek parts of the Bible, and his traditional African teaching and interpretation of Christianity are made manifest in spirituals.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that there is an urgent need for postcolonial readings of African Christian history, and by extension, early African Church fathers, like Augustine, and the spirituals. There is an absence of scholarship that examines the African Christian tradition present in spirituals. The body of literature on the religious tradition of spirituals either emphasizes the adoption of Christianity by enslaved Africans in America or focuses on aspects of African traditional religion with no connection to Christianity. The works of African Christian leaders in the early church uphold traditional African principles that speak to the African Christian heritage of spirituals. My study analyzes the text of spirituals in such a way that highlights the African Christian tradition within it.
","abstract_html":"<p>Christianity is an African traditional religion that played a vital role in the formation of American songs of slavery, also known as spirituals. These songs were created by the enslaved Africans in America to express their longing for freedom and preserve African Christian tradition. Within the lyrics of spirituals are coded messages that provided secret information to the enslaved African population. The text of many spirituals came directly from the Bible and speaks of the Spirit working in and through God’s people to set things right. Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) was an African Christian theologian and philosopher whose spiritual authority heavily influenced the development of Western Christianity. Augustine’s writings helped bring together both the Hebrew and Greek parts of the Bible, and his traditional African teaching and interpretation of Christianity are made manifest in spirituals.</p> <p>The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that there is an urgent need for postcolonial readings of African Christian history, and by extension, early African Church fathers, like Augustine, and the spirituals. There is an absence of scholarship that examines the African Christian tradition present in spirituals. The body of literature on the religious tradition of spirituals either emphasizes the adoption of Christianity by enslaved Africans in America or focuses on aspects of African traditional religion with no connection to Christianity. The works of African Christian leaders in the early church uphold traditional African principles that speak to the African Christian heritage of spirituals. My study analyzes the text of spirituals in such a way that highlights the African Christian tradition within it.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Adekale, Elizabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Music, PhD","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"School of Arts and Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Robert Zappulla","David Luis-Brown"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:49Z","subjects":["Music","Religion","Black history","Religious history"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/487","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Robert Zappulla","David Luis-Brown"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Adekale, Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-10-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Arts and Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Music, PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Music","Religion","Black history","Religious history"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/487"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Christianity is an African traditional religion that played a vital role in the formation of American songs of slavery, also known as spirituals. These songs were created by the enslaved Africans in America to express their longing for freedom and preserve African Christian tradition. Within the lyrics of spirituals are coded messages that provided secret information to the enslaved African population. The text of many spirituals came directly from the Bible and speaks of the Spirit working in and through God’s people to set things right. Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) was an African Christian theologian and philosopher whose spiritual authority heavily influenced the development of Western Christianity. Augustine’s writings helped bring together both the Hebrew and Greek parts of the Bible, and his traditional African teaching and interpretation of Christianity are made manifest in spirituals.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that there is an urgent need for postcolonial readings of African Christian history, and by extension, early African Church fathers, like Augustine, and the spirituals. There is an absence of scholarship that examines the African Christian tradition present in spirituals. The body of literature on the religious tradition of spirituals either emphasizes the adoption of Christianity by enslaved Africans in America or focuses on aspects of African traditional religion with no connection to Christianity. The works of African Christian leaders in the early church uphold traditional African principles that speak to the African Christian heritage of spirituals. My study analyzes the text of spirituals in such a way that highlights the African Christian tradition within it.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The African Christian History of American Songs of Slavery"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Robert Zappulla","David Luis-Brown"],"dc:creator":["Adekale, Elizabeth"],"dc:date.available":["2024-10-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Christianity is an African traditional religion that played a vital role in the formation of American songs of slavery, also known as spirituals. These songs were created by the enslaved Africans in America to express their longing for freedom and preserve African Christian tradition. Within the lyrics of spirituals are coded messages that provided secret information to the enslaved African population. The text of many spirituals came directly from the Bible and speaks of the Spirit working in and through God’s people to set things right. Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) was an African Christian theologian and philosopher whose spiritual authority heavily influenced the development of Western Christianity. Augustine’s writings helped bring together both the Hebrew and Greek parts of the Bible, and his traditional African teaching and interpretation of Christianity are made manifest in spirituals.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that there is an urgent need for postcolonial readings of African Christian history, and by extension, early African Church fathers, like Augustine, and the spirituals. There is an absence of scholarship that examines the African Christian tradition present in spirituals. The body of literature on the religious tradition of spirituals either emphasizes the adoption of Christianity by enslaved Africans in America or focuses on aspects of African traditional religion with no connection to Christianity. The works of African Christian leaders in the early church uphold traditional African principles that speak to the African Christian heritage of spirituals. My study analyzes the text of spirituals in such a way that highlights the African Christian tradition within it.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/487"],"dc:subject":["Music","Religion","Black history","Religious history"],"dc:title":["The African Christian History of American Songs of Slavery"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Arts and Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Music, PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:49Z"}