Louis Armstrong: From Childhood to Adulthood

When you think of Louis Armstrong you probably think of a jolly middle-aged man
who can play the cornet like no one else, a man who had it all, a man who had the good
life. Well, Louis was not always that lucky. From childhood to his adulthood, Louis
Armstrong changed much as a person and a musician.   He worked very hard to become
what he became and did not let anything get in the way of becoming a musician.   In this
paper, you will read about how Louis Armstrong became one of the most influential
people/musicians of his time.
Louis Armstrong's childhood was not of the normal childhoods most of us have
had. He had a very hard and painful childhood. He was treated very harshly by his family
and the people around him. His mother did not even care enough to keep his birth
certificate. That is why no one is really sure of Louis's birthdate ,but people believe he
was born around 1898, in New Orleans. Around Louis's time of birth, many blacks were
confined to live in the slums. The slums were in a way like ghettos. They were very poor,
dirty areas where people who hadn't much money would live. In the slums, there was
much violence, drug circulation and prostitution. The only people that made any money in
the slums were either the hustlers or the musicians. Considering Louis was not related to
anyone of that status he and his family had very little money. That left Louis with no
possessions whatsoever. He hadn't any toys to play with, he didn't even have a simple
stick just to keep him occupied. His clothes were at the lowest of the low class. He was
confined to wearing a dress as a younger child until he was a little older, then he had hand
me down shirts and shorts to wear. His choice of foods was limited to rice and beans. His
family did not make enough money to get better food than that. His family did not have
enough of anything to keep him happy. He felt like nobody loved him. When he was born... [continues]

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