Slavery, Sectionalism, and Increasing Conflict

In this activity, students gain an understanding of the African American influences in country music by examining the genre's earliest instruments, its jazz and blues foundations, and Elvis Presley's "rockabilly" — a genre-shifting synthesis of blues, R&B, and country. To culminate, students research the recent controversy surrounding Billboard Music's decision to remove Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" from its Country chart, which raised questions about the purpose of musical genres and the historic exclusion of African Americans from country music narratives. Introductory Activity: Reviewing the Blues and Swing Country music has roots in African American jazz and blues of the south. Present a brief overview of jazz and the blues to students, introducing its basic structure and form through a listening exercise: The blues emerged from African American folk musical forms, which arose in the southern United States and became internationally popular in the 20th century. Blues styles have been used and adapted extensively throughout country music's recorded history. Jimmie Rodgers, sometimes called the father of country music, was known for combining the blues, gospel, jazz, cowboy, and folk styles in his songs. Music Theory: The most common structure of blues is called the 12-bar blues. The term "12-bar" refers to the number of measures (or musical bars) used to express the theme of a typical blues song. Nearly all blues music is played to a 4/4 time signature, which means that there are four beats in every measure or bar, and each quarter note equals one beat. In terms of lyrics, three phrases fit over four bars each, often following the pattern of AAB: the first line often presents an idea or subject, the second line repeats this (maybe with a small variation), and the third line develops or resolves the idea presented in these first two lines.  Swing music grew from jazz, a genre of music that originated in New Orleans during the 19th century, when slaves would congregate on Sundays to play music and dance. In swing, as in jazz, musicians were expected to improvise on their instrumental breaks. But instead of jazz's saxophones, clarinets, and horns, western swing featured the mainstays of a hillbilly band: fiddles and the guitar. Listen to examples of blues and big band swing and discuss the sounds and musical characteristics of each. Do you hear the roots of country music? Examples: Blues: Bessie Smith, “Back Water Blues” (vocal), Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, “West End Blues” (instrumental) Swing: Glenn Miller Band, “In the Mood,” Duke Ellington, “Take the A-Train”

Learn how the issue of slavery divided the nation in this excerpt from The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns. By mid-century, the country was deeply divided. Southerners feared the North might forbid slavery. Northerners feared slavery might move west. As each new state was added to the union, it threatened to upset the delicate equilibrium of power. Learning Objective: Students will be able to identify how sectionalism in the United States led to the Civil War.    Key Vocab: Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin Bleeding Kansas Dred Scott