Music is often called the universal language due to its ability to be able to connect with various cultures. Music in the West is a great example of this as it has influenced music around the world, but also has been influenced and greatly modified over periods of time. One definite contributor to the musical growth in the West has been the influence brought from the hundreds of unique cultures and practices in Africa. Their traditions and music serves as a foundation of a variety of music today. Although the African slaves came mainly from the Atlantic coast of Africa, the development of their music in North America versus Latin America was radically different. Some believe that music in North America holds the most African traits outside of Africa. However, I believe that in Latin America, African slaves were more capable of preserving their traditions and as a result have retained the most Africanisms in their music and dance. The folk musics of the African populations and communities in the Americas are still very alive today. They have influenced the music of European settlers in the Americas to the extent of having played a major role in the development of popular North and Latin American music forms. The assimilation of African musical culture into the music of the Western world altered various instruments, vocal styles, notations and rhythms. One feature of African music that can be considered on of the most influential are African rhythms (Nettl 231). Through this influence, many new musical forms have emerged. One of the main causes for the retention of Africanisms in music is syncretism. This phenomenon is when two cultures come in contact, elements that are similar or compatible tend to syncretize, or grow into a new hybrid form (ibid). This theory explains how both African and European music have various derived genres. In contrast, Native American and Europeans had very little in common, therefore there were no new forms of music created (Pillich). The expansion of music in North America proceeded rather differently from that of Latin America and the Caribbean. In Protestant America, slaves were deliberately separated from their families and tribal members in order to make it difficult for them to communicate with one another and revolt against the slave owners (Jones 31). In contrast, the slave owners in Latin countries did not demand this separation, therefore African cultural traditions were able to somewhat survive. In North America, more of the African culture began to disappear and change due to the fact that European settlers were in favor to oppress the slaves culture and religious practices. (Nettl 249). Nevertheless, many of the musical elements of the African heritage was retained. One popular form that directly emerged from African influence is jazz. On the plantations, Africans were not allowed to use drums, unlike in slave communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, t