Up through and including Lincoln, American politicians nursed a fantasy of repatriating blacks to Africa.
Ned SubletteBlack musicians rhythmicized the contredanse, creating musical styles which evolved into the habanera (also known as the tango) and, later, ragtime, as well as the danza, danzรณn, and ultimately the danzรณn mambo and its offspring the cha-cha-chรก.
Ned SubletteLike slaves on the sugar plantations of the Antilles, ...the sugar slaves of southern Louisiana had negative birthrates for as long as slavery lasted.
Ned SubletteMiguelito, liberated from having to sing with Cugat, sounds like he just got out of jail and is letting it rip.
Ned Sublette