As part of our Colonial American and Revolutionary War history studies this year, we’ve been reading through No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance by Doreen Rappaport. The true stories cover the period from the early days of slavery to the Emancipation Proclamation while providing a chronology of resistance based on historical accounts. It’s not a long book, so we only read from it briefly once or twice a week to stretch out the experience. Learning the songs of resistance sprinkled throughout the book provided an added dimension to the study that we all enjoyed, so I’m sharing the videos we used here for those of you who would enjoy doing the same.
If you don’t feel equipped to help your children see the ways in which enslaved people fought back against the brutality of slavery, you’re not alone. It’s difficult to teach ideas that we never really learned. It’s okay to not know, but it’s not okay to remain ignorant. Reading No More! is a good start, but if you’d like to be more prepared to teach these ideas well, consider listening to Resistance Means More Than Rebellion, a Teaching Hard History podcast episode (Episode 6, Season 1).
Once you feel confident introducing your children to the various methods of resistance utilized by enslaved people, grab a copy of No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance from your library or online, and dig in.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of these stories of slave resistance using these links, at no additional cost to you.Thank you for your support.
African American Spirituals (also known as Negro Spirituals)
Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?
Go Down Moses (Version 1) and Go Down Moses (Version 2) – They’re both so good!
Many Thousand Gone (aka No More Auction Block for Me)
Here are the videos my family used to enjoy the songs shared in the book. We usually listened first and then joined in. Most of the songs are pretty repetitive, making them easy to learn. Enjoy! [And be sure to scroll down for a few more book recommendations.]
Additional Books
Beyond the stories and songs, the author includes a list of 13 additional books to help learn more about the people mentioned in No More! I found this list to be quite helpful for extending our exploration of slave resistance. To give you an idea of what’s included, here are a few of the titles:
Important Note
Though No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance is a picture book full of stunning illustrations by Shane W. Evans, I don’t recommend it for younger children unless you’re going to pre-read and select the stories and poems that you think your children are ready for. The n-word is used once in the book and there are photos of enslaved people in shackles and heavy metal collars. If your children haven’t encountered images like these before, I recommend that you discuss the ways enslavers attempted to punish and prevent people from running away prior to surprising your kids with this poignant imagery. The publisher recommends ages 9-12.
You can find me hanging out on Instagram @heritagemomblog. Hope to see you there!
Amber, thanks for sharing this! As a graduate of the historic Fisk University, my love for spirituals runs deep. If you haven’t read Band of Angels by Deborah Hopkinson, I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful story about the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who brought these spirituals to the public after the civil war. they saved fisk from closing by raising funds through sharing these songs with the world. Dark Midnight When I Rise is another book (for adults) that thoroughly unpacks the history of the singers. There is a new group of Fisk Jubilee Singers every year. We try to see them live in concert as often as we can. If you get a chance to see them live, you will be blessed in your soul. But if not, their cds (easily found on amazon music) are absolutely beautiful.
Thank you for these book recommendations, Candace! We have a couple of other books on the Fisk Jubilee Singers that will be in my upcoming 1800’s booklist, but I don’t have either of the ones you mentioned, so I’m off to check them out.
Thanks so much for these recommendations and your work to make this information available to us!
You’re welcome! I’m really thankful that you’re interested in it.
thank you so much for sharing these resources. I love your blog and am so pleased to be able to educate my children and reeducate myself.
You’re so welcome. I really enjoy sharing what we’re doing with other families, so it’s totally a win-win.
Just wanted to let you know my kids and I finished “Many Thousand Gone” today b/c of your recommendation. We all loved it and found it very well done. Thank you so much for the work you put in to finding and sharing these resources!