Where Did The Name Jim Crow Come From?

Thomas Dartmouth Rice was the first American to popularize the black face with a character that he named Jim. He was in Louisville, Kentucky when he came across an elderly African American man singing a song called "Jump Jim Crow." Later, Rice would go on stage as "Jim Crow." He dressed as an African American with a painted "black face" . He painted his face with grease. The black face depicted a common slave, one who does not know how to read or write and was unintelligent. Rice spoke in the stereotypical slave dialect while on performing songs and jokes on stage. He was the first white man to perform this type of act. He used the character Jim Crow to depict slavery as benign, happy, and that it was civilizing. As Rice's show grew in popularity, so did the negative connotation affiliated with the name "Jim Crow." It ended up being a derogatory term used for blacks. The term Jim Crow died out by the end of the 19th century. Although the set of Jim Crow laws came about from the minstrel show character.

A little song that was normally song:

"Come listen all you galls and boys,

I'm going to sing a little song,

My name is Jim Crow.

Well about and turn about and do jis so,

B'ry time I feel about I jumpy Jim Crow."