Sorrow songs expressed the suffering and unjust treatment of enslaved African Americans during the period of
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...
(1619–1865). The melodies and the lyrics conveyed sadness, and the words were "stunningly direct" about what it is to be enslaved.
W. E. B. Du Bois coined the name.
References
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African-American music