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 and/or crow:
“I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“I saw a crow by Red Rock
standing on one leg
It was the black of your hair
The years are heavy”
—N. Scott Momaday (b. 1934)