The History of Gospel Music

Gospel music has become very popular and is often played during Christian holidays, church services and other major events to thank the Almighty for His grace and blessings. It is played on graduation day, during wedding ceremonies, as part of Thanksgiving celebrations and even on Easter when the spirit of Christ was resurrected. They are an innovative way to offer prayer God, praise Him, seek His direction in life and even express your belief in Him and Jesus. Christian songs remind us of God’s love for us and His redemption.

But where and how do you think these Christian songs originated and how did they come to be as famous as they are today? Well, first of all the Vatican has nothing to do with the inception and proliferation of these contemporary songs that give praise to God. The culture or trend originated in the 17th century. America and Africans are the real progenitors of it.

Here is how. If you are a fine connoisseur of Music and have heard early day gospel songs or read about them, you will know that the basic tune structure matches that of some tribal African songs. The history goes that during the 17th century, tribal Africans were employed as slaves to work on the plantations of rich and affluent Americans, particularly the Southerners. When the slaves were brought to American mainland, they had also brought along their culture, music, songs and food. In order to completely enslave them, Americans were bent upon forcing their conversion, curbing their culture, going even to the extent of encouraging Christian worship amongst them.

Even the great book, Gone with the Wind talks about how they would pray together with their slave owners and sing their hymns. But what it doesn’t mention is that instinctively they composed the scriptures in some of their own tunes, the ones they were forced to forget. Now, their masters never cared to pay attention to their music in the beginning. So now that they were praising Christ and his miracles in their tunes, they more than welcomed the trend. And thus the foundation of Christian songs was laid.

The African Americans sang these Gospel music songs profusely during the Civil War when they were called to fight for the southerners. But it was only towards the close of the 19th century that these gospel songs became popular and started gaining acceptance. Towards this end, the contribution of Mahalia Jackson is most exemplary. She was dedicated to Christian songs and people loved when she sang them. Her ‘Take my hand, Precious Lord’ is still among the most widely searched Gospel songs on the internet. She was a legend who made these contemporary religious songs reach millions of people and enhance their faith in the God, the Savior.