“The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the “Union”) and eleven Southern slave states that declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.

The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, opposed the expansion of slavery and rejected any right of secession. Fighting commenced on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a federal military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. [The war ended when General Robert E.] Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.” —Wikipedia

Much in the same way that folk singers such as Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger helped to instigate social change in the turbulent decade of the 1960s, pre-civil war music, particularly songs performed in minstrel shows, helped pave the way for the end of slavery in America.

Stephen Foster, for instance, had a strong empathy for the oppressed people in the southern states, although himself a Northener. In the 19th century, minstrel shows, such as those of the very popular Christy’s Minstrels, were the primary outlet for the music of Foster and other composers of the period.

“Beginning in 1799, Southern Black music was introduced to the North in the form of minstrel shows. The music became even better known when steamboats began plying the Mississippi and passengers heard the songs of Black dock workers. Many of these passengers were so taken by the work songs and mournful spirituals that they made it a point to bring the melodies home with them.

“Minstrel troupes began traveling the North in great numbers in the early nineteenth century. The comedic characters in black face, the new rhythms and dances served to make the minstrel show our first native form of musical theater. However, delightful as the shows were, they were a subtle and constant reminder to many that a whole group of people in the United States were denied a basic American prinicipal—freedom. As the Civil War was dawning, the minstrel show became the vehicle for many pro-abolitionist sentiments.” —America’s Story in Song

While Civil War combat inspired passionate and time-honored anthems—on both sides of the conflict—notably “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” and “Dixie“—the battle over the abolishment of slavery nurtured two other significant musical forms: the spiritual and the work song.

“The work song was purely functional; it served to lighten the burden of forced labor. Since singing religious songs was usually the sole musical outlet permitted the slaves, the spiritual evolved as a replacement for African ritual music and dances that were forbidden by Christian [slave] masters. Subsequently, both work songs and spirituals grew as a combination of West African rhythms and European harmonic structures.

“These musical forms born in slavery became the basis for ragtime, blues, jazz and finally rock and roll.” —America’s Story in Song

Popular Civil War Era Minstrel, Work, and Spiritual Songs:

Buffalo Gals (Won’t You Come Out Tonight?)

Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me

Little Brown Jug

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Go Down Moses

Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

The Battle Hymn of the Republic