African American spirituals

E299967

African American music religious folk music genre vocal music tradition

African American spirituals are religious folk songs created by enslaved African Americans that blend Christian themes with African musical traditions and served as expressions of faith, resistance, and hope.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
African American spirituals canonical	8
African-American spirituals	3
American spirituals	2
African-American spiritual "Go Tell It on the Mountain"	1
African-American spiritual tradition	1
Gullah spirituals	1
Negro Spirituals	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2800686 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: African American spirituals
Context triple: [Songs My Grandma Sang, mainSubject, African American spirituals]

A. Appalachian music
Appalachian music is a traditional American folk style rooted in the rural Appalachian region, known for its ballads, fiddle and banjo tunes, and strong influence on later folk and country music.
B. From Spirituals to Swing concerts
From Spirituals to Swing concerts were landmark late-1930s Carnegie Hall concerts that introduced wide audiences to African American spirituals, blues, and jazz, significantly shaping the popular and critical reception of these genres.
C. Soul music
Soul music is a genre that blends gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz influences into a deeply emotive, vocal-driven style that emerged in African American communities in the 1950s and 1960s.
D. African-American culture
African-American culture is the rich, diverse set of traditions, artistic expressions, social practices, and values developed by African Americans that has profoundly shaped music, language, fashion, and popular culture in the United States and beyond.
E. Lift Every Voice and Sing
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a historic hymn often referred to as the Black national anthem in the United States, celebrating Black resilience, freedom, and hope.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: African American spirituals
Target entity description: African American spirituals are religious folk songs created by enslaved African Americans that blend Christian themes with African musical traditions and served as expressions of faith, resistance, and hope.

A. Appalachian music
Appalachian music is a traditional American folk style rooted in the rural Appalachian region, known for its ballads, fiddle and banjo tunes, and strong influence on later folk and country music.
B. From Spirituals to Swing concerts
From Spirituals to Swing concerts were landmark late-1930s Carnegie Hall concerts that introduced wide audiences to African American spirituals, blues, and jazz, significantly shaping the popular and critical reception of these genres.
C. Soul music
Soul music is a genre that blends gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz influences into a deeply emotive, vocal-driven style that emerged in African American communities in the 1950s and 1960s.
D. African-American culture
African-American culture is the rich, diverse set of traditions, artistic expressions, social practices, and values developed by African Americans that has profoundly shaped music, language, fashion, and popular culture in the United States and beyond.
E. Lift Every Voice and Sing
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a historic hymn often referred to as the Black national anthem in the United States, celebrating Black resilience, freedom, and hope.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (59)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	African American music ⓘ religious folk music genre ⓘ vocal music tradition ⓘ
associatedWithEvent	American Civil War era ⓘ linked to: American Civil War
associatedWithMovement	American civil rights movement ⓘ abolitionist movement ⓘ
combinesTraditionsOf	Central African musical traditions ⓘ Christian hymnody ⓘ West African musical traditions ⓘ
createdBy	enslaved African Americans ⓘ
developedInContextOf	slavery in the United States ⓘ
documentedBy	Fisk Jubilee Singers ⓘ
hasCulturalOrigin	African diaspora in North America ⓘ
hasFunction	coded communication ⓘ communal expression ⓘ cultural preservation ⓘ emotional release ⓘ religious worship ⓘ
hasHistoricalPeriodOfFormation	18th century ⓘ 19th century ⓘ
hasNotableSong	Deep River ⓘ Go Down, Moses ⓘ Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho ⓘ linked to: "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen ⓘ Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child ⓘ Steal Away ⓘ Swing Low, Sweet Chariot ⓘ This Little Light of Mine ⓘ Wade in the Water ⓘ
hasOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
hasSubcategory	jubilee songs ⓘ sorrow songs ⓘ
hasTheme	Christian faith ⓘ deliverance ⓘ freedom ⓘ hope ⓘ resistance ⓘ salvation ⓘ suffering ⓘ
influencedGenre	blues ⓘ civil rights freedom songs ⓘ gospel music ⓘ jazz ⓘ rhythm and blues ⓘ soul music ⓘ
recognizedAs	intangible cultural heritage of African Americans ⓘ
usesBiblicalImageryFrom	New Testament ⓘ Old Testament ⓘ linked to: Bible
usesLanguage	English ⓘ
usesMusicalFeature	blue notes ⓘ pentatonic scales ⓘ polyrhythm ⓘ syncopation ⓘ
usesPerformancePractice	foot stomping ⓘ group singing ⓘ hand clapping ⓘ unaccompanied singing ⓘ
usesVocalTechnique	call and response ⓘ improvisation ⓘ

How these facts were elicited