03/27/2026
Series: Harlem Renaissance: Its Connection to Southern History
Part I: The Great Migration and the Artistic Expression of Black America
Topic 1: The Origins of Slavery and Black Artistic Freedom on Southern Plantations
Disclaimer: The term “slave” is used intentionally to reflect the historical language and the full weight of the institution, while
recognizing the humanity of the people subjected to it.
In my first posts of the series, I discussed the Cakewalk and how it became a major hit in New York. But did you know that this dance originated on plantations throughout the American South? Even more interesting, it was deeply rooted in African cultural traditions brought over during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Africans who were forcibly brought to the Americas carried with them rich traditions—dance, music, song, folklore, foodways, and crafts like calabash making. These traditions did not disappear under slavery. Instead, they adapted and fused with European influences in the South. The Cakewalk is one of the clearest examples of this cultural survival and transformation.
In a world where Africans and African Americans were enslaved with little to no freedom, cultural expression became a vital outlet. Through food, dance, music, art, and craftsmanship, they maintained identity, community, and resilience. While it may seem surprising that slavers allowed such expressions, historical accounts suggest multiple reasons. Some may have viewed these activities as harmless entertainment, while others actively participated as spectators. Slave narratives frequently describe enslavers attending weddings, funerals, religious gatherings, and other social events within enslaved communities—this was not uncommon, but part of plantation life.
The Cakewalk itself was widely performed across the South, though it was not always called by that name. It gained national attention during the Ragtime era when performers such as Eli Green brought it to stages in New York, giving it the name “The Cakewalk.” While he did not invent the dance, he helped popularize and commercialize it for broader audiences.
Before its rise in northern cities, the Cakewalk existed as a plantation dance—often performed in front of white audiences, but rooted in Black expression. In New York, where audiences had never encountered anything like it, the dance became wildly popular. At the same time, in the Jim Crow South, it was likely dismissed or avoided by white society due to its association with Black culture.
While racism shaped every aspect of this history, what is equally important is how African cultural traditions endured. The Cakewalk survived slavery, was passed down through generations like oral traditions and folklore, and continued through the Civil War and Reconstruction. After emancipation, it could be performed with greater freedom, no longer under constant surveillance.
It is worth imagining what that freedom felt like for formal slaves—to dance not as spectacle, but as expression. Performers like Eli Green and others carried this cultural legacy to northern cities, where it evolved into stage performances, social dances, and even early film.
The story of the Cakewalk reminds us that even under the harshest conditions, culture survives—and often thrives.
Primary Sources:
Communal Serving Calabash Bowls, Spoons, Stacked - Image:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/.../File:Gourds_-_communal...
New York Public Library Digital Collections:
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/.../0c513b30-c591...
Secondary Sources:
The Cakewalk: A Dance full of Curves and Resistance
https://capemaymag.com/.../the-cakewalk-a-dancefull-of.../
The Cake Walk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3787107
Who Takes the Cake? The History of the Cakewalk:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/.../who-takes-cake-history...
Who takes the cake? The history of the cakewalk
americanhistory.si.edu
