Jump Jim Crow is a song and dance from 1828 that was done in blackface by white comedian Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.) "Daddy" Rice. The first song sheet edition appeared in the early 1830s, published by E. Riley. The number was supposedly inspired by the song and dance of a crippled African slave called Jim Cuff or Jim Crow variously claimed to have resided in St. Louis, Cincinnati or Pittsburgh. The song became a great 19th century hit and Rice performed all over the country as Daddy Jim Crow.
Jump Jim Crow was a key initial step in a tradition of popular music in the United States that was based on the imitation of African-Americans. The first song sheet edition appeared in the early 1830s, published by E. Riley. A couple of decades would see the mockery genre explode in popularity with the rise of the minstrel show. It was also the initial step in the extant tradition in popular music of incorporating African styles and subject matter.
The tune became very well known not only in the United States but internationally; in 1841 the US ambassador to Central America, John Lloyd Stephens, wrote that upon his arrival in Mérida, Yucatán, the local brass band played "Jump Jim Crow" under the mistaken impression that it was the US national anthem.
As a result of Rice's fame, Jim Crow had become a pejorative meaning African American by 1838 and from this the laws of racial segregation became known as Jim Crow laws.
The expression to jump Jim Crow came to mean "to act like a stereotyped stage caricature of a black person". See Uncle Tom.
Famous quotes containing the words jump, jim and/or crow:
“I was given the gifts of the artist, and the trouble that goes with them: So I have that blessing, and there was never a time that I questioned it or doubted it.... For forty years, I wanted to jump out of windows.”
—Louise Nevelson (1900–1988)
“Just kids! That’s about the craziest argument I’ve ever heard. Every criminal in the world was a kid once. What does it prove?”
—Theodore Simonson. Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.. Jim Bird, The Blob, responding to the suggestion that they not lock up the teens pulling the alien “prank,” (1958)
“The crow does not hide its prey, but calls for others to share it;
So wealth will be with those of a like disposition.”
—Tiruvalluvar (c. 5th century A.D.)