These plays are the first distinctive cultural product of the mixed cohort that industrial metropolises and their imperial plantations were making. The shows drew lower-class audiences of all races together for an evening of raucous entertainment that veiled a harsh criticism of the upper classes and American elitism through the auspices of the cork-blackened face:
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Lhamon, and William Mahar have argued that early (pre-1840) minstrelsy was not primarily about slave culture, but about social class. Recent scholars such as Eric Lott, Dale Cockrell, William T. Despite the obvious racially derived context, early minstrelsy focused on larger social issues that may have unified people across racial divides. The constant jesting, dancing, and singing of nonsense lyric in dialect of the early blackface shows played upon this image. Slave life was actually seen as an ideal one, by viewing the slave as an uncomplicated, child-like creature, happy and lovable, enjoying life’s simple pleasures while reaping the satisfactions of honest toil for a beloved ‘Massa,’ whose kindness swept away all sorrow and care. an idealized landscape combined with relaxation, simple, rustic pleasures and the nobility of honest, rewarding labor all culminating in an enviable and glorified lifestyle. The black mask and the typical rubrics of the minstrel performance clearly suggested a rudely stereotyped characterization of the slave, often supporting what Herbert Holl summarizes as the common white misperception of slave life at the time: The centerpiece of the minstrel show was comic routines performed by white men with cork-blackened faces. By the midpoint of the century, this form of entertainment had gained popularity around the world as one of the few uniquely American contributions to theater. White men with grease-blackened faces had entertained white audiences since well before the American Revolution, but it was not until after the war of 1812 that blackface minstrelsy became a mainstay of the American stage. In addition, it provides historical evidence for the events that may have precipitated this stylistic shift. Focusing on structure, linear design, and text/music relationships, this essay explores the change in Foster’s minstrel style as a reflection of his evolving perception of slave life. This literature has been virtually ignored, but its importance in disseminating a revised view of the African American slave merits new examination. When his parlor ballads could no longer sustain him financially, however, he merged the two styles into a new hybrid genre, “the plantation melody.” The songs published under this rubric use musical strategies found in the ballads and focus on nostalgic themes, thus attempting to humanize the image of the oppressed slave.
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These later songs reflect a growing uneasiness with the earlier style, ultimately leading him to a period of withdrawal from the lucrative minstrel genre. In specific, the growing abolitionist movement and the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin inspired a shift in Foster’s compositional style. As the antebellum era came to an end, social and political tensions moved Foster to reflection. Towards the end of the decade, however, many of his minstrel songs contain glimmers of a changing perception of slave life. Foster’s first minstrel songs, in contrast with his early ballads, were characterized by a simplicity of form, harmony, and melody, as well as by lyrics that ridiculed slaves and slave life, propagating the racial stereotypes that were embraced and financially supported by the successful minstrel groups of the time. Stephen Foster’s music became the backbone of the American minstrel show in the 1840s, a period of critical change for blackface minstrelsy as it grew from its countercultural class-conscious roots into an industry of racially charged entertainment.