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History of the United States I / Unit 12   USH1 1678 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Work Songs

Captions available

The idea

Work songs carried double meanings, a literal one acceptable to White listeners and a deeper one for the enslaved.

In practice

Songs commenting on the harshness of slavery within earshot of those enforcing it.

Where people slip

Concealment inside plain sight is the technique, and it is the same technique as the trickster tale.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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