Jump Jim Crow

"Jump Jim Crow" or "Jump Jim Joe" Or "Jim Crow" sometimes "John Crow" is a song and dance from 1828 that was done in blackface by white comedian Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.) "Daddy" Rice. The number was supposedly inspired by the song and dance of a physically disabled African slave named Jim Cuff or Jim Crow, who is 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 Blacks. 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.

As a result of Rice's fame, the term 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 song originally printed used "floating verses", which appear in altered forms in other popular folk songs. The chorus of the song is closely related to the traditional Uncle Joe / Hop High Ladies; some folklorists consider Jim Crow and Uncle Joe to be a single, continuous family of songs.

The lyrics as most commonly quoted are:

Other verses, quoted in non-dialect standard English:

A version used as a children song titled "Jump Jim Joe" goes like this:

As he extended it from a single song into an entire minstrel revue, Rice routinely wrote additional verses for "Jump Jim Crow". Published versions from the period run as long as 66 verses; one extant version of the song, as archived by American Memory includes 150 verses. Verses range from the boastful doggerel of the original version to an endorsement of President Andrew Jackson (known as "Old Hickory"); his Whig opponent in the 1832 election was Henry Clay:

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