• Share the following introduction to the activity with students.

Music is a language that crosses race and class reaching a wide range of audience. Songs are memorable and can be retold over and over again. In the early to mid-1800s, printing materials would have been expensive and many Americans  were not literate. Songs could be memorized and repeated regardless of literacy. Songs could also be used in informal settings to share important messages. For these reasons, songs were an important tool in spreading the abolitionist message. Many of these songs are used to uplift abolitionists in their work towards ending slavery. They could appeal to existing abolitionists or to Americans who want to be a part of something greater than themselves. This was true across regions as even enslaved populations could share songs in secret and the religious undertones were intended to be hopeful. 

  • Break the class into three larger groups or multiple groups of three and ask each group/student to read and analyze one song.
  • Students should then respond to the following questions orally or in writing in preparation for a small group or whole class discussion.  
  • What is the title of your song and what is it about?
  • To whom (position, region, religion, etc.) may this song have appealed most? Why?
  • How might this song have made the people listening feel or act? 
  • What words or lines from the song stood out the most to you? Why?
  • Lead a whole group discussion answering the following:
  • Do these songs fit the definition of propaganda?
    • Propaganda refers to information used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda can take various forms, such as posters, advertisements, speeches, or social media campaigns, and it is commonly used by governments, organizations, or individuals to influence public opinion or behavior.
  • Why would it be important in a struggle against the institution of slavery to use popular songs, or short rhymes to gather support from the general public?
  • Can you think of songs that are similar or that could be considered propaganda in other periods of history or today?
  • If students have difficulty responding or if you want to provide additional information you can close with this 

The songs we read today were meant to evoke emotion from their audience. Songs like “I am an Abolitionist” might make someone feel proud of their identity and for fighting against slavery. The songs were intended to inspire the listener to act and protest the laws that held African Americans in bondage. They might also have inspired a feeling of righteousness through the religious overtones. A song like “Ye Sons of Freemen” might have evoked excitement and even anger with lines referring to burning down plantations. Many of the lyrics might have also provoked a feeling of injustice in the violence and unfairness that the system of slavery produces. 

We have many injustices that have been present in our society in the  twentieth and twenty-first century. More recent examples of propaganda songs include antiwar music from the 1970s from artists such as Bob Dylan and Marvin Gay, anti-police/anti-government groups such as Rage Against the Machine and N.W.A  in the 1990s, and more recent examples such as John Legend and Common’s song “Glory” in 2015.

Analysis of “Abolitionist Propaganda”- Songs