Black/Codes Research Paper

‘Black~Codes’ were legal statutes and constitutional amendments enacted by the ex~Confederate states following the Civil War that sought to restrict the liberties of newly freed sIaves, to ensure a supply of inexpensive agriculturaI Iabor; and maintain a white dominated hierarchy. However; the history of Black Codes did not begin wIth the coIIapse of the
Confederacy. Prior to the Civil War, $tates in the south enacted Slave Codes to regulate the institution of slavery. Furthermore, northern, non~slave holding states enacted laws to limit the bl@ck political power and social mobility. For example~ in 1804, Ohio enacted Iaws prohibitin black people from immigrating into states. In 1813, the State of lllinois enacted a law banning
For example, in Texas, a morality clause was used to make it crime for laborers to use offensive language in the presence of their employers, his agents, or his family members. Borrowing from the Ohio and Illinois codes, Arkansas enacted an ordinance banning free blacks from immigrating into the state.
In the end, the Black Codes were largely extinguished when Radical Republican
Reconstruction efforts began in 1866-67, and with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and civil rights legislation. Though the statutory lives of the Black Codes were short-lived, they are significant in that they served as precursors to the Jim Crow laws and social segregation among whites and blacks. For example, Arkansas passed a law prohibiting black children from
1attending school with children. The Texas legislature enacted a law requiring railroad companies to set aside a passenger car for black passengers.
While each ex-Confederate state enacted its own set of Black Codes, all of them shared certain features. First, they defined the term "person of color." Second, they prevented
In states like Florida, it also included standing in the stockade or floggings. In
Florida, behavior that constituted a breach of the contract included laziness, failure to appear for work, using offensive language with the employer, or running away.
Most of the slave codes also made it a criminal offense for anyone to entice or encourage a black laborer to break an existing labor contract.
Criminal laws also played an important aspect in the Black Codes. To varying degrees, ex-Confederate states passed criminal laws that prohibited petty that blacks were more likely to commit due to their immediate condition. For example, the Louisiana Penal Codes specifically criminalized trespassing on plantations.Because free blacks often had no place to live other than on their previous master’s plantation, they were more likely to be arrested under these statutes. Penal Codes also specifically targeted blacks by inflicting harsher punishments for some crimes than whites convicted of the same crime. Unequal punishment was important for keeping blacks in a condition of servitude. For example, a North Carolina statute made it a