Secular folk music was created by the slaves as a way of adaptation by the slaves to the United States. It combined characteristics from both African and American influences into the dance and music. The start of folk dances came from the mixing of the cultures of native African slaves and American born slaves when the native African slaves wouldn’t dance with the American born slaves. As time went on, many different sub-categories of secular folk music emerged. An example of a sub- category is the children’s game songs. This category came from the children being inspired by the adults dancing. The music created a sense of community due to the wanting of as many people as possible to join in.
Secular folk dancing was prohibited in southern states but had been allowed in New Orleans. Some of the dances were the chica, the bamboula and the conga. These slaves were able to dance in New Orleans because the mayor appointed places for them to dance in the city. A lot of modern day popular dances came from folk music such as our modern day Conga.
