Jim is just a vague one-size-fits-all name like Joe or John, and crows were black and the slaves were black.
Jim Crow in the original song was not a slave, but a slave master. See related question. Another possibility: derived phonetically from the French phrase, "gens des corbeaux", meaning "people of the raven or crow".
THE ORIGIN OF "JIM CROW"
Jim Crow laws were named for an ante-bellum mistral show character. The minstrel show is one of the first indigenous forms of American entertainment.
The tradition began in February 1843 when a group of four white men from Virginia, billed as the "Virginia Minstrels", applied black cork to their faces and performed a song-and-dance act in a small hall in New York City. The performance was such a success that the group was invited to tour to other cities and imitators sprang up immediately. These troups were successors to individual performers who imitated Negro singing and dancing. One of the earliest and most successful individual performers was Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice.
Rice, a white actor, was inspired by an elderly Negro in Louisville, Kentucky crooning and dancing to a song that ended with the same chorus:
"Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."
The pejorative expression "Jim Crow" rose to popularity as early as 1838, due to a song and dance caricature from 1828 and onward called "Jump Jim Crow". In 1841, the US ambassador to Central America was welcomed at Yucatan, Mexico by a brass band playing "Jump Jim Crow" under the mistaken impression that it was the US national anthem.
where did the jim crow laws originate
The term 'Jim Crow' originated around 1830, when Thomas Rice incorporated a tune with the lyrics, Jump Jim Crow, into his minstrel act.
Jim Crow is most famous for his "Jim Crow Laws," which said that certain facilities in the South were to be racially segregated, coining the phrase, "separate but equal."
Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow Laws
where did the jim crow laws originate
The term 'Jim Crow' originated around 1830, when Thomas Rice incorporated a tune with the lyrics, Jump Jim Crow, into his minstrel act.
The term 'Jim Crow' originated around 1830, when Thomas Rice incorporated a tune with the lyrics, Jump Jim Crow, into his minstrel act.
Jim Crow is most famous for his "Jim Crow Laws," which said that certain facilities in the South were to be racially segregated, coining the phrase, "separate but equal."
Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow Laws
The phrase "Jim Crow Law" first appeared in 1904 according to the Dictionary of American English, although there is some evidence of earlier usage. The origin of the phrase "Jim Crow" has often been attributed to "Jump Jim Crow", a song-and-dance caricature of blacks performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface, which first surfaced in 1832 and was used to satirize Andrew Jackson's populist policies. As a result of Rice's fame, "Jim Crow" had become a pejorative expression meaning "Negro" by 1838 and when the laws of racial segregation - directed against blacks - were enacted at the end of the 19th century they became known as Jim Crow laws.
Jim Crow:EtymologyThe origin of the phrase "Jim Crow" has often been attributed to "Jump Jim Crow", a song-and-dance caricature of African Americans performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface, which first surfaced in 1832 and was used to satirize Andrew Jackson's populist policies.[2] The phrase "Jim Crow Law" first appeared in 1904 according to the Dictionary of American English,[3] although there is some evidence of earlier usage.[2] See Jump Jim Crow for more information on etymology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws#Etymology
Jim Crow Laws
Jerico-Jim Crow was created in 1964.
The New Jim Crow was created in 2010.
From Swastika to Jim Crow was created in 2000.