‘Minstrel’ was an appropriate word for describing this new stage presentation in 1843. This linked it to history. It was carefully chosen by Dan Emmett to name his Viriginia Minstrels. We also refer to the earlier blackface period as minstrelsy, but it didn’t have this name at that time.
So, how does this word link blackface performance to minstrels?
Ancient Minstrels
Minstrels were prominent from the 12th to the 17th centuries, often performing at courts and public gatherings. They played a variety of instruments, including the lute, harp, and shawm (an early form of the oboe). Their performances included singing songs that told stories of distant places or historical events, often blending fact with fiction.
In medieval society, minstrels were highly valued for their entertainment and news-telling roles. They were sometimes employed by royalty and nobility, but many were itinerant, traveling from place to place to perform
In modern society, the poor, itinerant entertainers were fictitious southern slaves. The nobility they performed for were white theater goers in the north (starting in New York).