Jim+Crow+Life+worksheet

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 Notebook. 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. You can do this in Word by copying this document onto a new document, completing it using the resources below, and cutting and pasting it into a new page on your notebook. Make sure your responses are in first person!

1) 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 14th Amendment granted us citizenship, it also gave us civil liberties after we were freed. Citizenship was only granted to freed slaves born in the United States. The 14th Amendment gave us the rights of a citizen no matter the color of our skin. Due Process means that we will be given the Due Process of law before being Persecuted. Equal protection of the law means we have the same amount of protection from the law as the whites do.

2) 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 was jailed for sitting in the white car on the train. Plessy could have passed as a white because he had light skin because of his French, Spanish or Caribbean heritage, but by the state of Louisiana, he was required to sit in the colored car. The descion was that they ruled it constitutional because the distinction between races does not destroy the legal equality of the two. The impact of this case caused outbreaks blacks trying to use white privileges.

3) 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]

The name Jim Crow was used to describe segregation laws. No one actually knows who Jim crow is but some people believe he was an old slave who had difficulty walking or they believe he was a rag-tag black stable boy. Either one of these characters is very stereotypical.

4) What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you? Which one do you feel is the worst?  [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 1] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 2] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 3]  / [|Jim Crow Laws Link 4]

-Black and whites are not allowed to play together -No marriage if one of them is more the 1/8 black -Separate public schools for each race -Equal but separate accommodations when riding trains -A black man could not offer to shake a white mans hand -Blacks are not allowed to show public affection in public -Whites always had the right of way when driving The worst one I think is where we are not allowed to offer to shake a white mans hand because it makes me feel that they think we are like wild animals.

5) 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]

Jim Crow America was very segregated and there were signs everywhere saying where whites can go and blacks can go.

6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? [|Scottsboro LINK]

In the Scottsboro Case 9 black boys were chaged with the rape of 2 white women. All these boys were sentenced to death. This made me feel scared to even leave my house because I knew I could be blamed for something that I didn’t do just by the color of my skin.

7) Why should anyone care about your life during Jim Crow America? [|Why should I care? Link]

You should care because its part of our history. It is part of our history that whites had superior power in the south and that we were discriminated. I was discriminated and I didn’t get all the rights granted to me in the 14th amendment. The bad part is no one did anything to stop it.