Jim Crow Laws

784 Words4 Pages

The Jim Crow Laws were created after the end of the Reconstruction Period in 1877 and the ended during the Civil Rights Movements of 1950. The laws get their name from a play in 1828 known as Jump Jim Crow, the play was written and acted out by Thomas Dartmouth Rice also known as “Daddy”. The Jim Crow Laws was a term used to mock the rights of any African American because although they had achieved freedom the Jim Crow Laws were restraining them from achieving true legitimate freedom of action (Britanica first paragraph). The State of Tennessee enacted its first Jim Crow Law in 1866 requiring separate schools to be built for children of different races. It continued to pass nineteen more laws from then until 1955: six educational laws with the sole purpose to separate colored children from the white children in all school houses, four marriage laws restricting any and all interracial marriages, three railroad laws that required cars meant for only blacks and another for only whites, two that required separate public facilities and services, and finally one that segregated street cars (Tennessee). These laws undoubtedly prove that although african americans were “free” in America they were still slaves in a way. The Jim Crow Laws were a very illusive and mocking way of imprisoning the African Americans, they may have been free but they still weren’t allowed to make decisions by themselves. The Jim Crow Laws gave the impression of equality and freedom but how can someone be

Open Document