Jim Crow Laws

No eating with whites

Colored Races weren't allowed to eat with whites. As you can see the sign says whites only meaning that they wouldn't do anything for you unless you were white. If you tried to even go into a store that has a sign you risked being severely punished, hanged, or shot. This was a standard everyday sign that you would see at the time of Jim Crow. White Southerners justified their beliefs that it was fine to eat foods prepared by blacks but unacceptable to consume it with them for if they consumed food with a black the black would most likely be lynched.

Jim Crow Laws

Sitting on the bus

Not only were colored people not allowed to be near a white. They had to sit in a different area of the bus as well. Bus operators were supposed to separate their coaches into two sections: whites up front and blacks in back. During Jim Crow white people never had to stand on a bus and if there were no more available seats then he or she could take a seat that a black was sitting in. In addition to that blacks didn't have buses for school. They had to walk no matter how far away the school was. Most times when a white bus passed whites would throw stuff at the blacks to make fun of them since they weren't supposed to be equal. This is represented in The Roll of Thunder when Cassie, Stacy, Little Man, and Christopher John are walking to school in the rain a white bus passes by and the whites throw mud at them and laugh.

The Great Depression

The great Depression was a time when the stock markets crashed and almost all of America, including the rich, became poor and lost their job. When this happened even children had to work and make money for their family. This wasn't all that the Great Depression did. It made most of America homeless. This was from every 1 in 4 American actually having a job and those other three were either homeless or about to be homeless.The Depression caused many farmers to lose their farms. This caused years of drought which ended up in the creation of the “Dust Bowl” in the Midwest. It ended farming in a previously perfect farming region, the Midwest. This made thousands of farmers and workers search for work in California.

Abolishment of Slavery

This quote provided by Abraham Lincoln states that slaves are now free "all persons held as slaves within any State in rebellion against the United States, shall be forever free. Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln." stated from Document A: The Emancipation Proclamation would make slaves feel better about the end of slavery because this was provided by Abraham Lincoln and at this time he was the president of the United States. This was the quote that allowed slaves to own land and not work for a white man. After this slaves were allowed to own land, have money, and go to school. But even though they weren't slaves anymore they were still not viewed as equals to whites and then the Jim Crow Laws were made in the South.This quote from Chapter six in the Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is where Big Ma tells Cassie about slavery and that blacks were differently viewed by whites and that they should be happpy that they aren't slaves anymore and there isn't slavery at all “Because he’s one of those people who has to believe that white people are better than black people to make himself feel big.” I stared questioningly at Mama, not really understanding. Mama squeezed my hand and explained further. “You see, Cassie, many years ago when our people were first brought from Africa in chains to work as slaves in this country”(Taylor 128).

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Lynching

Lynching is the process of punishing a person for a crime without giving them a fair or legal trial. One way to get lynched is to shake hands with a white man because it implies equality and that isn't what people wanted at the time. In The Roll of Thunder there was an example of a lynching. In the Roll of Thunder Mr.Berry was blamed for inappropriately touching a white woman so night men burn him and the two boys that were also blamed for touching that woman. Then a little after TJ told the Logans that he “Heard tell they lynched a boy a few days ago at Crosston" (Taylor 64).

https://youtu.be/h4ZyuULy9zs