African American literature, the body of work, in prose or verse, created by early African slaves and their descendants residing in the United States , tends towards the exploration of African American identity, denigration of racial discrimination, and celebration of the distinctiveness of African American culture. Just prior to the Civil War, more and more slaves escaped to the North and learned to read and write. Many would use their writing to encourage the abolition of slavery. After the Civil War, the newly freed slaves began to include the movement towards literacy and formal education as part of their communal values. "Colored schools" sprang up throughout the South and former slaves of all ages began learning to read and write.

The Sasa of African Americans now included the horrors of slavery, memories and stories of the African homeland, and the many traditions and practices developed by the descendents of the first African slaves, including the creation and performance of the spirituals. Newly literate African Americans continued the oral traditions first brought to the continent by their forebears, but now they expanded this tradition to include written histories, stories, and poems to accompany the many songs and folk tales that had been passed down orally. Not surprisingly, a tradition of stylized historical recordkeeping, storytelling, and poetry already existed in West African culture that would inform the works of African American poets.