Jim+Crow+Laws

Jim Crow Law

After the civil war, most of the southern states passed anti-African American legislation. That became known as the Jim Crow laws. The Constitution stated that all people were equal, but during this time period, that certainly wasn't the case. Jim Crow laws were used to discriminate Whites from Blacks by using signs to indicate that blacks could only sit in the back of the bus or stand. Or to indicate if blacks could even be served in a restaurant. There were separate militias depending on race, and whites and blacks weren't even allowed to shake hands with each other. Some examples of Jim Crow laws were: “It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.” “Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.” The Jim Crow laws existed from 1877- the mid 1960s. It was considered to be a way of life. Many Christian ministers taught that Whites were the chosen people, Blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation.
 * —Birmingham, Alabama, 1930**
 * —Missouri, 1929**

There were even laws limiting Blacks' freedom of speech. Some examples of these were that Blacks weren't allowed to comment on the appearance of Whites, that Blacks couldn't laugh at Whites, and that Blacks couldn't imply negativity toward Whites. Blacks also couldn't be part of the state criminal justice system depending on the state. Many areas showed signs reading "NO Dogs, Negros, Mexicans". If Blacks broke these laws, Whites often revolted with mobs, in which Whites would shoot Blacks to death, or even burn them at the stake. These extreme acts of violence were known as lynchings. There was a total of 4,730 lynchings during the time period of Jim Crow, the racial social structure or caste system, and nine out of ten of these lynchings were in the southern or western states where Jim Crow Laws were in effect, and just under 1/30th of the accounted lynchings were in northern states that didn't border southern states or western states. Many of these riots were caused only by rumors.

**Restrictive signs** Restrictive signs sprang up across the southern and western landscape. They were constant and humiliating reminders with a common message—“stay in your place.” **Restricted real-estate covenant** In communities across the country, property owners signed agreements called restrictive covenants. These contracts barred African Americans and sometimes other groups-including Jews, Asians, and Latinos-from many neighborhoods. **Early Klan image** The Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866 to combat Reconstruction reforms and intimidate African Americans

Allen Granbery Thurman’s campaign included the promise of barring black citizens from voting. He narrowly lost to future president Rutherford B. Hayes. Thurman was then appointed U.S. Senator for Ohio, where he worked to reverse many Reconstruction-era civil rights reforms.

Source 1 [|Source 2] [|Source 3]

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