Why was tap dance made?

Tap dance developed from a variety of sources including Irish stepdancing, English clog dancing, African-American shuffling rhythms, and Native American pow wows. The earliest reference to a tap dance performance took place in 1841 during an Ethiopian minstrel show, which later led to vaudeville. However, tap dance truly began to thrive as an African-American street dance after the Civil War with Bill Robinson being known as the Father of Tap Dance.