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2.6.5Minstrelsy: The American Minstrel Show, ca. 1830 - 1905
Origins
American minstrelsy emerged in the 1830s. White musicians, mainly solo or duo acts, would black-face themselves and perform songs and dances from African American culture.
Horrible racist stereotyping (“See the happy dancing plantation slaves!”) didn’t bother audiences of the day. Even Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), author of the famous phrase, “All men are created equal,” kept a couple of hundred slaves and did not see fit to free them.
Breakout
By the 1840s, troupes of 5 or 10 players were common, mainly white males, but not exclusively.
Abolishionist minstrel troupes had some success.
America successfully exported the minstrel show to Europe. Of course minstrels had been a fixture in Europe for centuries, but the American style minstrel show was something else.