Page 1 of 1

Jim Crow

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:14 am
by William Hupy
Does anyone have a definitive answer to the origin of this phrase? The best information I have indicates that it was used as early as 1838 but came into more general usage with the passage of Jim Crow legislation subsequent to the end of Reconstruction in 1877.

Re: Jim Crow

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:37 am
by Slava
I'm not so sure it's definitive, but here's Wikipedia's etymology. It has a bit of a feel of speculation to it, but that seems to be as far as we can get.