Introduction

The nineteenth century was one of tremendous growth for the United States. One major aspect of this growth was culture. Because the United States was still a fairly young country that was experiencing a lot of physical change due to the adoption of more land as states, it lacked a central culture that made Americans Americans. As time elapsed though, one part of United States culture began to flourish and shape Americans. This piece of the puzzle is known as music.
Slavery was still legal and very much in use during the nineteenth century. Part of the growth that occurred during the time was in values. There was huge dispute between the north and south over slavery. The Civil War was product of this major argument of the time. Not only did the values of north and south contradict, but so did those of the slaves themselves as well. This is very apparent in the music of the time. Music of the nineteenth century exhibits the differences in cultural values and ideals during the time period of slaves and white American citizens.
Due to the pain and suffering they experienced daily from their masters, slaves valued their freedom above all which can be seen through their musical background. They sang songs as a group when the worked in the fields that spoke of freedom and how God would one day release them from their horrible oppression. Many forms of music spurted off from slave music including the genre today that is know as the Blues.
An important part of life for free, white men in the United States during the 19th century was social standing. Only the richest and most privileged of families had enough money to attend social events like concerts. Music was a symbol of status for whites. These cultural values can be seen in the music of the time itself.
Life was very different for slaves and free men of the time. Despite the fact that they lived in the same country, on the same land, they lived extremely different lives and valued different things. Their cultures were fundamentally different and this can be seen in the differences of their music.