Merengue típico

Stringed instruments were replaced with two-row diatonic button accordions when Germans began to travel to the island in the 1880s as part of the tobacco trade.

The earliest documented evidence of merengue in the Dominican Republic are newspaper articles complaining about this "lascivious" dance displacement of the earlier tumba.

Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo brought accordionists with him on the campaign trail, and once he took power, he ensured that merengue was embraced as a national music by all classes of Dominicans.

[5][citation needed] Official versions promote the three-cultures origin, using the European accordion together with the African tambora and Taino guira.

Through the efforts of artists like El Cieguito de Nagua, and particularly Tatico Henriquez, the music became faster and more technically demanding, while incorporating new instruments.

Many feared too much international influence would change the style for the worse, losing the roots that made merengue popular to begin with.

Agapito Pascual is credited with creating the new style termed "merengue con mambo" in 1987 with his recording, "La Vieja y su Pipa."

In the past, other dances like the mangulina, carabiné, polka, guarapo, and zarambo were also played on accordion, but are now generally heard only at folkloric presentations.