The Banjo (Kat and Ashleigh)

The banjo is an instrument with a surprisingly long history. Originating in West Africa, as enslaved Africans were brought to the West, so did the concept of the spiked lute–the banjo’s predecessor. Once the banjo made landfall in the present day United States, it spread like a wildfire and became very popular in many areas of people. Because of that, it is very complicated to keep track of how the banjo traveled through the United States. This map is composed of points in locations across the globe, primarily in the United States, showing places where the banjo evolved and existed until it became the banjo we know today.

So with this map, we can see how the banjo evolved to what it is today. From the Senegal-Gambia area in West Africa, the conceptual idea was brought West in the slave trade. When the concept hit the modern day United States and the banjo was made physically, it spread wide and far, embedding itself in time period onwards in one way or another. From all the way up in New York to the Appalachians or Columbia to California–the banjo has traveled quite a distance to become what it is today.

Source List

Blond, Sue. “The Haitian Banza.” Banjology, 16 Apr. 2013, sites.duke.edu/banjology/the-banjo-in-haiti/the-haitian-banza/.

Fulwood, Ethan L. “Quantitative Similarities between the Banjo and a Diverse Collection of West African Lutes.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 26 Oct. 2022, www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01401-3.

McCarren, Felicia. “Congo Square.” Banjology, 16 Apr. 2013, sites.duke.edu/banjology/the-banjo-in-new-orleans/congo-square/. 

PBS. “History of the Banjo: Kentucky Studies.” PBS LearningMedia, KET, 16 Jan. 2021, scetv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/history-of-the-banjo-video/kentucky-studies/?student=true.

Smithsonian Institution. “Banjos.” Smithsonian Institution, 2022, www.si.edu/spotlight/banjos-smithsonian.

Ratzlaff, Eli. “Black History of the Banjo.” The Front Porch, 15 Feb. 2022, frontporchcville.org/black-history-of-the-banjo/.

Winans, Robert B. Banjo Roots and Branches. University of Illinois Press, 2018.

Unknown . “The Old Plantation.” Encyclopedia Virginia, 19 Apr. 2023, encyclopediavirginia.org/4333hpr-b5deaccd6d628b6/.