Traditional African American spiritual

The words of We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder belong to the communal African American spiritual tradition; no individual author or secure composition date is known. The song developed through oral performance, where singers could repeat, omit, exchange, or create short stanzas according to the needs of a gathering. Its biblical image and language of perseverance carried particular force among African Americans living under slavery and its aftermath.

The historical record is more complex than a single origin story. In 1867 the editors of Slave Songs of the United States mentioned a related Port Royal song but excluded it because they had encountered something similar in Methodist hymnbooks. That note confirms circulation while leaving the direction of borrowing unresolved. Claims that the present song can be dated precisely to 1750, 1825, or a particular African region are not adequately documented.

The earliest located printing of the familiar form is Emily Hallowell's second edition of Calhoun Plantation Songs in 1907, based on music learned from Black students at the Calhoun Colored School in Alabama. Thomas P. Fenner printed a closely related form in 1909. Their differing stanza sets illustrate a living repertoire rather than a fixed authorial text.