Essay on The Strange Career of Jim Crow - 1336 Words

The Strange Career of Jim Crow C. Vann Woodward’s book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, has been hailed as a book which shaped our views of the history of the Civil Rights Movement and of the American South. Martin Luther King, Jr. described the book as â€Å"the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.† The argument presented in The Strange Career of Jim Crow is that the Jim Crow laws were relatively new introductions to the South that occurred towards the turn of the century rather than immediately after the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Woodward examines personal accounts, opinions, and editorials from the eras as well as the laws in place at the times. He examines the political history behind the emergence of†¦show more content†¦The very slave- holding society that the South emerged from made it more able to accept African Americans living among whites. However, this was not true in all the classes. Many lower class and rural southern whites viewed the newly fr eed African Americans much more harshly than their wealthier counterparts. In regard to sharing a railroad car, one white man stated that he would rather be seated next to a respectable African American rather than a rowdy, lower- class white man. There were very few Jim Crow laws in existence in the South before the 1890s. Before that, African Americans could, theoretically, be seated in trains and buses with whites, as well as attend the same places of entertainment and stay at the same hotels. Woodward demonstrates this by using the accounts of one African American reporter from the North who traveled south to see if there was prejudice against him in public accommodations, and was surprised that he could find no difference in the way that he was treated in the South than the way he was treated in New England. In the end, the reporter stopped corresponding as he could find nothing incriminating to say about his treatment in the South. Living arrangements, especially in Southern cities, also greatly affected the attitude ofShow MoreRelatedThe Strange Career Of Jim Crow862 Words   |  4 PagesJim crow laws In the 18th century the civil war had brought in end to slavery ,when the union beat the confederacy.Many people believe that slavery ended right there, and that anything else that happened to African Americans after that was due to racism of the people of that time.When in reality that change had caused ripples, that would shape history and the way people think all the way till today.Using historical ideas ,journals ,and such C.Vann Woodward in The Strange Career Of JIM CROW Read MoreThe Strange Career Of Jim Crow Essay1198 Words   |  5 PagesJim Crow laws were also known as â€Å"Black Codes† in many parts of the United States. C. Vann Woodward’s book The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A Commemorative Edition explains the history of racial segregation in America from the end of the Civil War until the mid-1960s. The system of slavery that existed before the Civil War â€Å"†¦made separation of the races for the most part impracticable.† Racial segregati on was not encoded in law until after the Civil War. Woodward’s book is an effective history ofRead MoreThe Strange Career Of Jim Crow Essay1173 Words   |  5 PagesThe  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Then he taught at  Johns Hopkins University. He made the achievement of becoming Sterling Professor of History at  Yale  University from 1961 to 1977. Woodward s most influential work is  The Strange Career of Jim Crow  which was published in 1955. In the book, he explained how segregation was not inevitable. In the 1960s, Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.  claimed the book to be the historical bible of the Civil Rights Movement (Dr. Fallin, class lecture, nRead MoreThe Strange Career of Jim Crow1765 Words   |  8 PagesThe Strange Career of Jim Crow When The Strange Career of Jim Crow was first published in 1955, it was immediately recognized to be the definitive study of racial relations in the United States. Professor Woodward discusses the â€Å"unanticipated developments and revolutionary changes at the very center of the subject.† Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to the book as the historical bible of the civil rights movement. The Strange Career of Jim Crow won the Pulitzer for Mary Chestnut’s Civil WarRead MoreThe Strange Career Of Jim Crow Essay1417 Words   |  6 Pagesprofessor at  Johns Hopkins University  from 1946 to 1961. He then became Sterling Professor of History at  Yale  University from 1961 to 1977, in which he taught graduate students and undergraduates. Woodward s most influential work is  The Strange Career of Jim Crow  which was published in 1955. In the book, he explained how segregation was not inevitable. In the 1960s, Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.  claimed the book to be, the historical bible of the Civil Rights Movement. His second most influentialRead MoreEssay The Strange Career of Jim Crow1834 Words   |  8 PagesThe Jim Crow laws were local and state laws that were supposedly â€Å"separate but equal,† but instead blacks were inferior to the whites due that to the social, educational, and economical disadvantages that they caused. In Woodward’s greatly influential book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, he shows supporters of segregation that this was not the way that it had always been, but instead segregation took time to develop after the Civil war and that the acceptance of the Jim Crow laws was not just becauseRead MoreAnalysis of the Strange Career of Jim Crow940 Words   |  4 PagesWoodwardâ €™s novel â€Å"The Strange Career of Jim Crow† was simply a book about racism. Other critics also attack his style of writing in this very popular novel. However, I believe that Woodward’s novel is not just a book about racism. It is a book about history. I believe it is a book about race relations, not racism. Woodward shatters the stereotypical view of segregation through chronicling the history of America from reconstruction through the late 1960’s. The Strange Career of Jim Crow is not simplyRead MoreEssay A Review of The Strange Career of Jim Crow1072 Words   |  5 PagesA Review of The Strange Career of Jim Crow C. Vann Woodward’s most famous work, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, was written in 1955. It chronicles the birth, formation, and end of Jim Crow laws in the Southern states. Often, the Jim Crow laws are portrayed as having been instituted directly after the Civil War’s end, and having been solely a Southern brainchild. However, as Woodward, a native of Arkansas points out, the segregationist Jim Crow laws and policies were not fully a part ofRead MoreThe Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward1063 Words   |  5 PagesWoodward wrote The Strange Career of Jim Crow for a purpose. His purpose was to enlighten people about the history of the Jim Crow laws in the South. Martin Luther King Jr. called Woodward’s book, â€Å"the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.† (221) Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote revealed the true importance of Woodward’s book. Woodard’s book significance was based on it revealing the strange, for gotten facets of the Jim Crow laws. Assumptions about the Jim Crow’s career have existed sinceRead MoreThe Strange Career Of Jim Crow By C. Vann Woodward1871 Words   |  8 PagesThe Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward explains the development of Jim Crow Laws starting in the period of Reconstruction until its legal demise in 1965. The book puts an argument against the question whether or not segregation had been around before the civil war, and argues that segregation had not always been that way. Before the Civil War, a close proximity was crucial between the societies in the South to maintain white supremacy above blacks. After the Civil War, a period known