Jim Crow was the term used to describe laws passed in the American South beginning in the late 1800s. The various state and local statutes required that whites and blacks be segregated in public spaces such as railroad cars, restaurants, hotels, and schools.
The name Jim Crow came from a song performed by a minstrel in blackface in the 1820s.
The laws creating segregated public spaces began to be passed in the 1880s, and in 1896 the U.S.
Supreme Court declared them constitutional in the landmark decision Plessy v. Ferguson. The Jim Crow era would only end decades later, with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
In the years following the Civil War, federal legislation tended to ensure civil rights for African Americans. But once Reconstruction ended in 1877, states and local governments began to pass laws which essentially legalized discrimination against blacks.
In the late 1880s, states in the South began passing laws segregating railroad travel. When Louisiana passed a law requiring "separate but equal" railroad cars for blacks and whites, it was challenged by Homer Plessy. His 1892 arrest for riding in a "whites only" car led to legal battles that ended at the Supreme Court in May 1896 when it announced the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
From 1896 onward, state and local governments were able to pass laws that essentially banned black people from any number of public facilities. In the Jim Crow Era it became common, in the South, for signs to proclaim "Whites Only."
There is no mystery about where the name Jim Crow came from, yet how it came to be attached to a vast collection of discriminatory laws is unclear.
Thomas D. Rice, who had been born in New York City, traveled in the South as a performer. According to legend, Rice, at some point in the 1820s, observed a stable hand in Kentucky singing a song containing the lyric "Jump Jim Crow."
Rice learned the song and dance, and when he returned to New York City he performed it in blackface. His routine was a hit, and Rice is credited with kicking off the popular fad of minstrel shows.
Calling segregation laws "Jim Crow" seems to make no logical sense. However, it may have been a reference to the era of slavery, when blacks were required to live apart from white society and to assume a subservient role.
The name Jim Crow came from a song performed by a minstrel in blackface in the 1820s.
The laws creating segregated public spaces began to be passed in the 1880s, and in 1896 the U.S.
Supreme Court declared them constitutional in the landmark decision Plessy v. Ferguson. The Jim Crow era would only end decades later, with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Passing of Jim Crow Laws
In the years following the Civil War, federal legislation tended to ensure civil rights for African Americans. But once Reconstruction ended in 1877, states and local governments began to pass laws which essentially legalized discrimination against blacks.
In the late 1880s, states in the South began passing laws segregating railroad travel. When Louisiana passed a law requiring "separate but equal" railroad cars for blacks and whites, it was challenged by Homer Plessy. His 1892 arrest for riding in a "whites only" car led to legal battles that ended at the Supreme Court in May 1896 when it announced the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
From 1896 onward, state and local governments were able to pass laws that essentially banned black people from any number of public facilities. In the Jim Crow Era it became common, in the South, for signs to proclaim "Whites Only."
Origin of the Name
There is no mystery about where the name Jim Crow came from, yet how it came to be attached to a vast collection of discriminatory laws is unclear.
Thomas D. Rice, who had been born in New York City, traveled in the South as a performer. According to legend, Rice, at some point in the 1820s, observed a stable hand in Kentucky singing a song containing the lyric "Jump Jim Crow."
Rice learned the song and dance, and when he returned to New York City he performed it in blackface. His routine was a hit, and Rice is credited with kicking off the popular fad of minstrel shows.
Calling segregation laws "Jim Crow" seems to make no logical sense. However, it may have been a reference to the era of slavery, when blacks were required to live apart from white society and to assume a subservient role.
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