Tubman sang ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,’ ‘Wade in the Water’ and ‘Follow the Drinking Gourd’
As already mentioned, Tubman did sing certain songs to indicate danger or safety but not the ones above. It is documented that she sang two songs during her rescue missions – “Go Down Moses” and “Bound for the Promised Land,” while changing the tempo of these songs to signal whether it was safe to come out or not. The song “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” was written and composed after the Civil War by a Cherokee Indian in Oklahoma and Tubman would not have known that song during her Underground Railroad missions. Also, it was almost 100 years after her mission that the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was first written and performed by the Weavers in 1947.
