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Jim Crow Laws Research Paper

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The Jim Crow laws were a combination of state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the conservative Southern United States, from 1877 to 1965. These racially-fueled laws caused a vast decrease in personal freedom for African-Americans. The African Americans got their first taste of freedom after the Reconstruction period as the South sought to remind African-Americans of their “place” in society. The Jim Crow laws also ushered in the era of the “separate but equal” status for African-Americans.
Reconstruction was the period after the American Civil War that saw the rebuilding of the United States. During this time the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were all passed in order to secure racial equality. However these laws were not effectively enforced. The Congressional Elections of 1866 brought radical republicans to power. Thus the Jim Crow era was born. Mainly focused in the South, these policies were aimed …show more content…

The tradition began in February 1843 when a group of four white men from Virginia, who called themselves, the "Virginia Minstrels," smeared black cork on their faces and then put on a song-and-dance act in a small hall in New York City. Their performance was such a hit that the group was invited to tour to other cities. Before long, many other entertainers were imitating that style. They all gained success around the country imitating how African-Americans sang and danced. One performer, who became the most famous, was called Daddy Rice. He was a white actor, who was inspired by an elderly African American man from Louisville, Kentucky, who sang and danced to a song that ended with the same chorus: "Wheel about and turn about and do just so, Ev'ry time I wheel about I jump Jim Crow." Thus, the Jim Crow laws, named for the minstrel show character, were passed in the late 1800s by the legislatures of the Southern states that discriminated against African Americans in the

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