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The Black Codes were laws passed on the state and local level in the United States to limit the basic human rights and civil liberties of blacks. Even though the U.S. constitution originally discriminated against blacks (as "other persons") and both Northern and Southern states had passed discriminatory legislation from the early 19th century, the term Black Codes is used most often to refer to legislation passed by Southern states at the end of the Civil War to control the labor, migration and other activities of newly-freed slaves.In Texas, the Eleventh Legislature produced these codes in 1866. The intent of the legislation was to reaffirm the inferior position that slaves and free blacks had held in antebellum Texas and to regulate black labor. The codes reflected the unwillingness of white Texans to accept blacks as equals and also their fears that freedmen would not work unless coerced. Thus the codes continued legal discrimination between whites and blacks. The legislature, when it amended the 1856 penal code, emphasized the continuing line between whites and blacks by defining all individuals with one-eighth or more African blood as persons of color, subject to special provisions in the law.
In the South following the Civil War, the white governments sought to avoid losing economic and political power to the newly freed slaves. The Black Codes were laws enacted in 1865 and 1866 to reduce the rights of blacks.

Under the Codes, they were not allowed to vote, to hold office, or to serve on a jury. They were also not guaranteed any sort of public education. In effect, their rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were being denied.

The Black Codes led to further exertion of power by the North, which demanded that states ratify the 13th and 14th Amendments before being allowed to regain their representation in Congress. Military rule was established and new Republican governments soon repealed the Black Codes.

Although they were ruled