Jazz And The American Dream Essay

Sawyer Bigler

Mrs. Michell

English Honors 4

6 February 2023

It's not just Jazz, it's the American Dream In the 1920s, America was entering a new era of social opportunity. At the same time, Jazz was bridging varying socioeconomic groups together. Jazz had its roots in West Africa and came to the United States through the Atlantic slave trade. The Africans, taken to the Americas, brought with them an extensive culture and music. The music that they brought with them would establish the foundation for what would become jazz. Before the 20th century, the United States of America was in a Victorian era in which there was a much more defined caste system. Those born into poverty would remain impoverished, and those born into wealth would have wealthy kids, but in the

At the time, America was a place of inequality. Jazz was a way for African Americans to make a name for themselves in an era filled with racism and segregation. Jazz itself mirrors this idea. It started as a way for slaves to express themselves and became a defining trait of America. Jazz itself connected different races, “jazz was being played around the country by both African American and white bands”(Jazz and Blues). This era was home to many famous Jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, and Joe “King” Oliver. All of which come from varying backgrounds. Louis Armstrong and King Oliver come from a precarious, difficult beginning. Whereas Duke Ellington and James P. Johnson had a supporting and safe background. Even though Ellington and Armstrong had varying pasts, they were both successful and even had their first recordings in the same year (The Jazz Age). Jazz directly mirrored the American Dream of the time. Anybody who works hard can be successful, no matter