The Old Plantation attributed to to John Rose. Circa 1785.
Pre-Civil War
1619 – Civil War
1619 – Civil War
The African American influence on American music cannot be overstated. It is no exaggeration to say that without Black people American music in its current form would not exist.
People of African descent have been in this land long before it was a country, and, although they were stolen from their homelands, they brought with them their rich musical traditions. From work songs to spirituals to dance music, the syncopated rhythms of Africa would become interwoven into the American tapestry from its inception.
This is not to imply that African American music was no different from the music found on the African continent at the time. Black music in America was strongly influenced by indigenous, European, and Caribbean cultures. An example of this is the development of the banjo, which, although not usually associated with Black music, was derived from the African lute. It evolved to adapt to European musical tuning standards and thus a new uniquely American instrument was born. This sort of hybridization is typical of Black American music.
The African American influence on American music cannot be overstated. It is no exaggeration to state that without Black people there would be no American music.
August 1619
The slave trade starts in the 13 colonies when the ship the White Lion arrives in Virginia carrying 20 to 30 enslaved Africans.
1794
Eli Whitney's invention revolutionizes the cotton industry in the United States and leads a growth in chattel slavery in the South.
c. 1820
Composed by Choctaw Freedman Wallace Wallis, spirituals like "Steal Away To Jesus," contained hidden messages to incite enslaved people to escape to freedom.
November 6, 1860
The election of Abraham Lincoln, who won a popular majority in the North where the enslavement of Blacks had been abolished, was the final trigger of the Civil War.
Originated in Western Africa and moved to America with the transatlantic slave trade. Major slave-trading ports include the regions of: 1a) Senegambia, 1b) Sierra Leone, 1c) Windward Coast, 1d) Gold Coast, 1e) Bight of Benin, 1f) Bight of Biafra, 1g) West Central Africa.
The first 20-30 enslaved people stolen from Africa land in the Virginia colony at Point Comfort; now present-day Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia.
Following their conversion to Christianity, southern enslaved Blacks originate folk spirituals. Enslaved peoples reinterpreted traditional Christian songs and worship practices in ways that held meaning to them as Sub-Saharan Africans in America. Call and response singing originates as groups of enslaved people work in plantation fields.
Slave Code of South Carolina, Article 36 prohibits the use of drums on plantations due to fears they would be used in slave rebellions. Other provinces soon adopted similar codes banning the use of drumming by enslaved people.
The banjo becomes a popular instrument and its African-derived rhythms were incorporated into popular songs by American composers like Stephen Foster. Most musicologists believe that the banjo’s origins were a combination of African instruments brought by enslaved peoples to the Americas.
New Orleans city council establishes "Congo Square" as an official site for slave music and dance.
