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 worked.
The southerners wanted control over the blacks after the Civil War, and states created their own Black Codes. After the Civil War, in 1865, the southern plantation owners were left with minimal labor. They were bitter over the outcome of the war and wanted to keep African Americans under their control. Black Codes were unique to the southern states, and each state had their own variation of them. In general, the codes compelled the freedmen to work. Any unemployed black could be arrested and charged with vagrancy.
The ones that did work had hours, duties, and types of jobs dictated to them. Codes were also developed to restrict blacks from becoming successful. They discouraged owning and selling property, and raising and selling their own crops. Blacks were often prohibited from entering town without written permission from a white employer. A black found after 10 p. m.
without a note could be arrested. Permission was even required from a black’s employer to live in a town! Section 5 of the Mississippi Black Codes states that every second January, blacks must show proof of residence and employment. If they live in town, a note from the mayor must be provided. If they had ‘irregular’ employment (anything other than agriculture or general labor) they must have a contract from the police, which could be revoked for any reason at any time. Certain black codes pertained to whites as well.
It was unlawful for a black to marry a white, or vice versa. Anyone found convicted of the crime could be sent to prison for life. Many contracts were drawn up as ‘permissions’ for certain blacks. If a freedman ever broke a work contract, he would be forced to forfeit his wages for one full year. Any civilian was permitted to capture and return freedmen who broke their contract. They were rewarded five dollars plus ten cents for every mile he was captured from his owner.
However, if anyone was found attempting to persuade a black to break his contract, or give a deserting black any aid, he / she could be convicted of a misdemeanor and forced to pay a fine. The draftees of the Black Codes in each state were not subtle in their dislike for freedmen. They believed blacks were predestined to be agricultural laborers and under their control. In 1866, federal officials deemed black codes too harsh, and outlawed them. They decided that blacks should receive the same treatment that whites did. “Black Codes.” Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.
2005. Black Codes of the South, The. Wilson, Theodore Brant ner. University of Alabama Press, 1965. Pg. 134-165.
Blue laws and Black codes: conflict, courts, and change in twentieth-century Virginia. Wallenstein, Peter. University of Virginia Press, 2004. Pg. 176-198. Fuente, Alejandro de la, Slavery and the Law: A Reply.
Law and History Review 22. 2 (2004) web The Handbook of Texas Online.