Jim+Crow+Life

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 were amendments after the Civil War to guarantee black rights. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth granted citizenship to people once enslaved. Due Process means the government denying someone life, liberty of land without equal process of law. Equal process of law means no one can have prejudice against someone in the court of law.

**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] The reason for this case was that Homer Plessy sat in a "white" car and was jailed for his actions. This caused a problem, so much so that it went all the way to the supreme court. Plessy lost the case and the supreme court said that facilities could be separate between blacks and whites but the facilities have to be equal.

**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] This Jim Crow fellow was a cartoon of a stereotypical black boy of man. No Jim Crow did not write these laws. I sometimes used the saying Jim Crow later in the century to explain laws or customs that oppress African Americans.

One example of a Jim Crow law was in Birmingham, Alabama it stated that... :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.” This law troubled me greatly because I had a good friend that I would play checkers with at the park on Sundays. Also in Nebraska one Jim Crow law stated that a white and a black could not marry because it is unlawful. My son could not marry the women of his dreams because of this love-forbidding law.
 * 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] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 3]

The nation was segregated in Jim Crow America. There were seperate establishments for blacks and whites, images of the horrible act of lynching, and even childeren being segregated, and having to use other water fountains than the white kids. Images of cruelty, or seperation in society can help explain what it looked like, by giving the harsh context of what was going on in this time.
 * 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]

The scottsboro case was nine black youths falsely charged with the raping of two white women in Alabama. The conviction was eventually overturned by the U.S supreme court, stating that Alabama had excluded blacks from juries. It made African Americans feel powerless in government, and scared that they can be blamed, or falsely accused for actions they may not have done.

**What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)** [|Audio History LINK 1] Baldwin had stated that the police would not allow blacks to drive cadallacs, and run of the mill blacks had to stay inside until 9:30, and educated blacks had to stay outside until 10:30. To stay any later you needed written permission from the chief of police. A person had a party at their house one night and invited the teachers, but they were there past 10:30, and a permit, and yet the police men followed them until they were out of the city limits, and fined them,