Antedating of "Jim Crow"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/5/2006 11:30 PM, you wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Fred Shapiro" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 10:05 PM
>Subject: Antedating of "Jim Crow"
>
>
>>Jim Crow (OED 1832)
>>
>>1831 _Richmond Enquirer_ 3 June 3 (Early American Newspapers)  Mr. HENRY
>>BANKS of Virginia has "jump'd Jim Crow" -- gone over to the opposition.
>>
>>[This citation predates the "Jim Crow" song and thus implies that the
>>sequence of senses of "Jim Crow" is different from the accepted one
>>followed by OED.]
>>
>>Fred Shapiro
>
> From Newspaperarchive,
>
>_The Hagerstown(MD) Mail_  14 August 1829.  p.2
>
>"...when the following toasts were drank:  <snip>
>
>8.  Pensylvania--who led the van in the Jackson election and gave him a
>majority of Fifty Thousand votes.
>                                                                [Jim Crow.
>"
>
>--ed.  The "Jim Crow" was to indicate  the tune to which the toast was sung.
>
>Sam Clements

I'm not surprised that once again the song precedes.  Surely one
could not "jump Jim Crow" (in the sense of "execute the dance", let
alone the fig. "change one's political principles") until after there
was a "Jim Crow" song?

Joel

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