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Slaves Arrive in the Americas
The first African slaves are brought to the American colony of Virginia. -
Period: to
Blues Timespan
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The End of Slave Importation
Congress legislates an end to the importation of slaves to the United States. -
Minstrel Shows Gain Popularity
The minstrel show, with its blackface performers, crude racial caricatures, and the song "Jump Jim Crow" becomes part of American popular culture. -
Civil War Begins
The Civil War begins with the first shots on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. -
Emancipation Proclamation Issued
President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves. -
Civil War Ends; Reconstruction Begins
The Civil War ends with the surrender of the Confederate Army. Reconstruction begins in the South. -
Slave Songs Published
Slave Songs of the United States is published. -
Radical Reconstruction Ends
Radical Reconstruction ends when government troops are removed from the South. -
Rise of Jim Crow
Southern states move to the "Jim Crow" system, passing laws to restrict many details of African-American life and producing, in effect, an almost slave society reinforced by the finances of the sharecropping system. Racial violence and lynchings are increasing. -
"Maple Leaf Rag" Published
Scott Joplin publishes "Maple Leaf Rag." Ragtime will become a key influence on Piedmont Blues. -
Black Music First Recorded
Victor Records issues the first known recording of Black music, "Camp Meeting Shouts." -
Blues Songs First Recorded
The first blues songs, including W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues", are published as sheet music. -
The Great Migration
The United States enters World War I. Military and economic mobilization accelerates the great internal migration of African Americans. -
First Folk Blues Records
The first male folk blues records are issued. -
Great Depression
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins on Black Thursday, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. Amid widespread economic ruin, sales of records and phonographs plummet, crippling the recording industry. -
Muddy Waters and Chicago Blues
Muddy Waters makes his first Chicago recordings -
The Country Blues Published
Samuel Charters publishes The Country Blues, fueling the blues element of the folk music revival. -
White Fan Base
Muddy Waters and B.B. King perform at the Fillmore East, a concert venue in the East Village region of New York City, to a predominantly white audience. -
"Year of the Blues" Declared
Congress declares 2003 the "Year of the Blues," commemorating the 100th anniversary of W.C. Handy's encounter with an unknown early bluesman at a train station in Mississippi.