Ragtime

Started around the 1890s (we still don't have Jazz (Definition) yet). Prior you'd hear The Blues. Sometimes you'll hear what's call a rag, which is a verb meaning to add syncopation.

No one really knows where the term jazz came to be from this. Some people used to use the term "jass" instead, which meant being very loud and flamboyant. See also the wiki article.

Initially it wasn't written down, but as EU influence came in with their composition, it eventually started to get written down.

There's one important thing that stops ragtime from being jazz: