Jim+Crow


 * To set the stage for the civil rights movement, you must first understand the environment of segregation in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. What was life like in Jim Crow America? Cut and paste this information into a new page in your Unit 8 Online ISN. **** You (and your partner, if you have one) are African Americans who have lived through the era of Jim Crow in America. Using the links provided in this activity, respond to the “oral history questions” in first person. **

**Right after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was ratified. What did the 14th Amendment provide for African Americans? What does “due process” and “equal protection of the laws” mean?** [|14th LINK] The fourteenth amendment was passed by Congress in June 8166 and ratified by the state in 1868. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States. Also, no state can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without the restriction of law. Due process means to free trial by jury. Also equal protection of the laws means laws protected by state and federal government that apply to you. (didn't include gender) **Unfortunately, your equal rights were challenged by the Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. What do you remember about the facts, decision, and impact of this case?** [|Plessy LINK] On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting on a bus labeled "white" ( he was 1/8 black). When Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, in 1 892, a black civil rights organization decided to challenge the law in the courts. Plessy deliberately sat in the white section and identified himself as black. He was arrested and the case was taken to the United States Supreme Court. In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case and held the Louisiana segregation statute constitutional.  Even though the fourteenth amendment was to name blacks equal as whites, it did not intend to destroy distinctions from whites and blacks.

The name Jim Crow is often used to describe the segregation laws, rules, customs which arose after Reconstruction. Jim Crow was a highly stereotypical black character, who sang. By 1838, the term Jim Crow was being used as a collective racial epithet for blacks, but not as offensive as nigger. However, by the end of the 19th century, the words Jim Crow were less likely to be used to describe blacks.
 * The laws developed in the South became known as Jim Crow laws. Who was this Jim Crow fellow? Did he write the laws?**[|Jim Crow LINK]


 * What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you?** [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 1] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 2] /
 * No white person is allowed to marry a person 1/8 or more negro, japanese, or chinese blood.
 * Railroad cars shall be separated into two sections, one for blacks and one for whites.
 * It is unlawful for a negro and a white to be playing cards or dice together
 * No black could offer to light a white mans cigarette
 * Black and whites were not allowed to eat with each other
 * If a black person rode a car with a white person driving, the black person had to sit in the back seat
 * Whites called blacks by their names, but blacks had to call whites with titles (mrs. ms. mr.)


 * What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time?** __Jim Crow Images LINK 1__ / [|Jim Crow Images LINK 2]









**What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** [|Scottsboro LINK] Two women tried against nine blacks who had raped them. Even though this was untrue, they were all, but the youngest, sentenced to death. Much protest and persistent continued which let the four youngest defendants be let go. (who had already served 6 years in jail). Pa tterson escaped in 1948 and fled to Michigan, where, three years later, he was convicted of manslaughter and died in prison. The last known surviving member of the group, Clarence Norris, fled to the North after his parole in 1946 and was granted a full pardon by the Governor of Alabama in 1976. It would have made me feel as if I don't have a voice and no on cares about my opinion. Even though I would have been truly innocent, there would have been no way to prove it. 

There were excluded from society and their friends. Many were jailed
 * What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)** [|Audio History LINK 1]