Somewhat adjacent or related to this discussion is the "Barn Dance" and or "Schottische".  This I actually have an answer for... they are exactly the same. 

So why did schottisches become barn dances?  I don't know the year, I expect that it could be discovered, but sometime around 1900 (perhaps late 1890s) a piece that was first published in 1878 as a song as well as an instrumental schottische suddenly became very popular. 

"Dancing in the Barn, Schottische" became so popular as a dance number that the schottische was generally renamed "Barn Dance"-- fads and fashions are funny things.  I have no doubt that our old friend nostalgia had a big part in this.

The piece is quite good and while there are a number of arrangements for banjo (including one by Cammeyer), my favorite is Zarh Myron Bickford's.

Even well known favorites were rebranded with "Barn Dance"

So, was "breakdown" a nostalgic rebadging of "jigs"?

And there is the "Canadian Barndance" —which is Scottish. 

Joel Hooks said:

Somewhat adjacent or related to this discussion is the "Barn Dance" and or "Schottische".  This I actually have an answer for... they are exactly the same. 

So why did schottisches become barn dances?  I don't know the year, I expect that it could be discovered, but sometime around 1900 (perhaps late 1890s) a piece that was first published in 1878 as a song as well as an instrumental schottische suddenly became very popular. 

"Dancing in the Barn, Schottische" became so popular as a dance number that the schottische was generally renamed "Barn Dance"-- fads and fashions are funny things.  I have no doubt that our old friend nostalgia had a big part in this.

The piece is quite good and while there are a number of arrangements for banjo (including one by Cammeyer), my favorite is Zarh Myron Bickford's.

Even well known favorites were rebranded with "Barn Dance"

So, was "breakdown" a nostalgic rebadging of "jigs"?

All of my internet scouring is producing that the Jig (Minstrel) and Breakdown were both dances, though I can't find anything written from the time period to suggest that Breakdown also means to play quickly however the Wikipedia article suggest playing the Jig at Schottische tempo. The book Dance and Its Music in America, 1528-1789 (pg,180 to start) has some eyewitness accounts of people jigging and dancing a jig. Then there is this book Jig, Clog, and Breakdown dancing made easy with sketches of noted j... which also mentions the jig as a dance style plus has mention of breakdown dancing. Here is a link to the sketch Contraband Children Dancing the Breakdown, which is supposed to depict breakdown dancing.