The Blues
The Soul of American Culture
The blues was originally created by the African American slaves in the South during the 17th century. It was sung by blacks throughout the south about their suffering and troubles brought upon by slavery. Not all of the classes of America knew of this form of singing; even some of the African Americans did not know of this music. W.C Handy, a black orchestra leader, had even said after hearing this style of music, "the weirdest music I had ever heard". The upper class did not associate themselves with the blues because the lyrics were about suffering and loss, which the upper class could not relate with. It was not sung by any ethnic group other than black until the early 1900's when the blues and Jazz caught fire in America leading other groups of people to mimic this form of song. It was a very common style of music throughout the 1900's and helped to form new types of music such as Jazz . The Blues had helped to show the what was happening to the lower class through music. There were no gender boundaries involved in the blues, in fact, some of the most famous blues singers were female. The blues impacted politics greatly from the 1800's to the mid 1900's. It helped to impact both races by demonstrating the cruelty the blacks faced. This lead to some people of all races during slavery and segregation to want change. This helped lead to equality in our government and nation. Although the music did promote change and equality, it did lead to some conflict between races. With the blacks getting more equality, those against it led protests and the formation of organisations against equality.
Citation
"History of Jazz | Black History in America | Scholastic.com." History of Jazz | Black History in America | Scholastic.com. Web. 1 Sept. 2015.
What Is the Blues?" PBS. PBS. Web. 1 Sept. 2015.
"Renaissance Collage - Roots of Blues Music." Renaissance Collage - Roots of Blues Music. Web. 3 Sept. 2015.