This rather unfortunate variant of European theatrical tradition, in which blacked-up white men savagely parodied and lampooned negro dance, speech and music using caricatures such as Jim Crow, Mr.Tambo and Zip Coon has its roots in the travelling shows and circuses of early America. But it wasn't until the entertainer Thomas 'Daddy' Rice came up with his song-and dance routine Jump Jim Crow in the late 1820's that this form of entertainment achieved widespread popularity. The song's publication in sheet form in 1930 helped to spread it throughout the country, and laid the ground for the subsequent proliferation of minstrelsy as a unique art form and important precursor of the American popular song tradition.

The first widely-known minstrel troupe was Daniel Emmett's Virginia Minstrels, whose routine of plantation songs, shuffling dances and low humour took America by storm in 1842. They were followed soon after by the rather more refined Ethiopian Serenaders and The Christy Minstrels. Together these three troupes brought to minstrelsy a respectability it had previously lacked, enabling it to be performed even in high class theatres and opera houses.

Despite the embarrassment in which many people now see it, the minstrel show was one of the earliest vehicles through which budding songwriters and entertainers could popularise their material, including America's first truly great songwriter, Stephen Foster. His legacy is partly due to the way his songs were performed and popularised by the The Christy Minstrels, with whom he signed a contract in 1850. Their own legacy lies in their development and standardisation of the three part minstrel routine.

The minstrel tradition continued to thrive throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th, with many respected songwriters including minstrel songs in their repertoire, including one George Gershwin, whose Swanee was made famous by minstrelsy's most famous son, Al Jolson.

By the time the tradition finally died out in the 1950's, by then a much gentler form of entertainment, it had become an anachronism - virtually a parody of itself.

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