A minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of African Americans. Minstrel shows stereotyped black people as dimwitted, lazy, buffoonish, greedy, cowardly, superstitious, and happy-go-lucky. The shows aimed to confirm racist perceptions that black people were not civilized enough to be treated as equals. Post-Civil War, African American performers formed their own minstrel companies, such as the Georgia Minstrels in the 1860s, adopting blackface and the format to gain economic opportunities in a format whites had dominated, occasionally injecting authenticity or subversion into the caricatures amid ongoing white supremacist sentiments. Often during white minstrel shows, the humor centered on situations where, whenever black characters tried to become citizens, they would fail, and fail comically.