What was the purpose of slave work songs

Slave work songs gave slaves a way to get their mind off of the grueling work that they had to do. In some cases, they gave them hope that help was on the way (ex: slave songs about Harriet Tubman). Other times, they gave directions. The slave masters never really paid any attention to what they were singing. So they literally got away with singing about whatever they wanted to sing

That's true, it's a belief in one god