Beginning in the early 1600s, Africans were ripped from their homelands and brought to the America’s English colonies. Deprived of basic human freedoms, these enslaved people created a remarkable form of communication now known as spirituals or Negro spirituals. Embodying the creativity and improvisation characterizing African-American music, these spiritual songs moved through the South as a result of people being traded on the slave auction block. In particular, the spirituals’ use of call and response can be found in every black musical genre that came after emancipation. Part of "The Genius of African-American Music" series. Please note this title contains mature themes and potentially offensive language.