The Black Codes In The Southern Society

1: Black Codes: A body of laws, statutes, and rules enacted by southern states immediately after the Civil War to regain control over the freed slaves, maintain white supremacy, and ensure the continued supply of cheap labor.

Black Codes: From 1865-1877 laws on the state and local levels were passed by the southern states to restrict African Americans from having civil rights, known as the Black Codes.

Black Codes: were passed by the south, they were made to limit the freedom of blacks so they would not be considered slaves however they were still treated like slaves due to the amount of restrictions made by these laws. If they quit before their contracts ended they would be subject to penalty and punishments. Black codes also restricted many of their civil rights not allowing them to be equal in the eyes of the government such as interracial marriages or being allowed to serve on a jury. These codes ultimately invalidated their freedom from slavery.

"black codes" were a set of laws passed by former confederate states after civil war during reconstruction. The laws were made in 1865-1866 that act out by the Southern State to give whites power over blacks. These laws were designed to restrict "freed" black's and ensure their availability as a workforce, now that slavery had been abolished. " Black codes" in the antebellum stiffly regulated the hustle and behavior of blacks.

Former Confederate states were upset at having lost the Civil War and consequently the institution of slavery. White communities in these southern states imposed Black Codes on the newly freed black community in an effort to restore the imbalance of power between blacks and whites that existed before the Civil War. Each state crafted its own set of Black Codes and each solely applied to the black community. Some states wrote stricter laws than others, although their limitations for people of color were very similar at the core.

Black Codes were laws that put restrictions on the rights of blacks. Most whites in the South were not willing to suddenly accept the freed slaves as equals or as full citizens. The laws usually said blacks could not vote in elections. Some required the freedmen to sign work contracts with farm owners which gained them little to no income. Many freed slaves remained on their plantations and worked as sharecroppers. In this system land owners, would allow a freed slave to work the land and give a portion of the harvest to the landowner. The portion was usually quite high and it was difficult for the freeman to save enough to sell on his own. So basically, even though the slaves on “paper” were “freed” they were still socially assaulted and not seen as equals. Economic freedom wasn’t a thing either. Sharecropping and tenant farming was called “economic slavery” because it was still a system where freedmen were acting like servants to

After the Civil War, the southern whites were extremely resentful and bitter. In 1865 the southern states began issuing “black codes,” which were laws made subsequent to the Civil War that had the effect of limiting the civil rights and civil liberties of blacks. This term tends to refer to the legislation passed by southern states to control the labor, migration, and other activities of newly freed slaves. When the slaves were freed, they still had

the black codes were established to regulate the lives of former slaves. It put laws and stipulations on the conduct and behavior which was idealy to keep black people from changing their sitiuations as being successful or becoming more of a free and independant race. The black codes was used as an attempt to support slavery under the counter. If the black parents of a minor could not take care of their kids. The kids would be removed from the household and they would be subjected for apprenticed for trade. The masters would have to provide food, clothing and supply their educational needs such as to read and write.they were not allowed to mis spend what they earned such as gambling and if caught they could be fined in prison for 10 days.It

The black codes, written on July 3, 1865, were “a series of discriminatory state laws” (Open Stax page 458) which made it illegal for African American men to be in town limits unless they had a written document from their employer saying that they were allowed, (Document B). These documents aimed to maintain the social and economic structure of the previous slave society in the absence of slavery itself. The black codes made strict regulations on when African American men were allowed to be in town without a white employer, including not letting them “be on the streets after 10 pm” and that they could not “live within the town limits” (Document B). The black codes aimed to reverse the effects of the 14th amendment by allowing them to own land but only under strict guidelines. In Document C, it states that “you all are not free yet and will not be until Congress sits” meaning that African Americans were not viewed as freedmen by Southerners, but still as their slaves because Congress did not enforce the 13th and 14th amendments. The black codes also influenced white men to beat and shoot any black men or women that tried to escape the South. This was cause because white plantation owners did not want to lose their workers because then they would have to pay a significantly higher wage to any other workers. The black codes also forced freedmen and women to sign contracts saying that they would only work for one employer, making it difficult for any man to raise enough money to buy their own land. As the book states. “blacks could not positively influence wages and conditions by choosing to work for the employer who gave them the best terms” (Openstax pg 459). These contracts lowered the competition between plantation owners so they were not influenced to raise wages based on other owners. The black codes deprived African Americans of their rights to vote, serve on juries, carry or

The Vagrancy Laws in the Black Codes meant that an unemployed, homeless freed slave could be arrested for no reason whatsoever (Kadue). Some states required Blacks to work in chain gangs in the fields. The Black Codes gave rise to a new wave of radical Republicanism in Congress, and the eventual move towards enshrining racial equality into the Constitution. However, black codes also resulted in the Jim Crow laws which enforced racial segregation. Overall the Black Codes made life much harder for the Blacks and enforced white supremacy (History.com

The Black Codes were in fact a backdoor attempt to reestablish slavery. The codes were made to make it seem like African Americans were free, but they never actually had freedom during this time. For example, with jobs, whites chose where African Americans worked and lived. They were allowed to get their own job, but most people then only allowed African Americans to work on plantations, even then they normally never got payed enough to be able to get their own actual house. On the off chance they could, they were given a specific place in each area where they could buy a house. This was normally where all African Americans who could afford a house, lived. So to be real, The Black Codes or Jim Crow Laws never really freed anyone. It was mostly

Due to less recognition on black history many don’t even know what “Black Codes” are. Black Codes began towards the middle of the reconstruction era which was from 1865-1877. Black Codes were a set of restrictive laws set in the south that were designed to restrict free blacks activity to enable their availability in the workforce now that slavery had been abolished. Black codes represent the discriminatory laws established in America that shaped southern society, at the end of the 19th century and well into the 20th century in the form of Jim Crow laws. Black codes embody the imagined equality between the blacks and whites in the south.

The Black Codes were passed by the southern states after the Civil War. These codes were designed to go against the 13th Amendment. These codes were put into place to put restrictions on the blacks. These codes limit the rights of blacks to own or buy certain properties. It restrict how they were socially or economically by only allowing them to have jobs in which they were still a farmer or a servant. These codes also made stern suggestions to others who employed blacks to only pay them the bare minimum. Any blacks wishing to farm crops on their own and work must pay a revenue between $10-$100. Although, the northern blacks were enraged by this, it took a long time for change to come with the 14th and 15th Amendmants.

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

     Imagine yourself wrongly convicted of a crime. You spent years in jail awaiting your release date. It finally comes, and when they let you out, they slap handcuffs around your wrists and tell you every single action you do. In a nutshell, that’s how the Black Codes worked. The southerners wanted control over the blacks after the Civil War, and states created their own Black Codes.