Black Codes (United States) facts for kids

The Black Codes were special laws in the United States that controlled the lives of African Americans. These laws were sometimes called Black Laws. Before the American Civil War, some states, especially in the South, had laws that treated free Black people differently from white people. These laws often limited their rights and freedoms.

After the Civil War ended in 1865, many Southern states passed new Black Codes. The main goal of these laws was to limit the freedom of newly freed African Americans, called "freedmen." These codes also forced them to work for very low pay or no pay at all. This was a way for white leaders to keep control over Black people's lives and labor, even though slavery was officially over.

These laws were often based on older "slave codes" that existed before the war. They made it hard for Black people to move freely, own property, or choose their jobs. If Black people didn't have a job or broke minor rules, they could be arrested. Then, they might be forced to work without pay, which was sometimes called "slavery by another name."

Laws Before the Civil War

Even before the Civil War, many states had laws that treated Black people unfairly.

In Southern States

In the Southern states, these laws were mostly part of the "slave codes." These codes made sure that enslaved people had very few rights. Free Black people in the South also faced many restrictions. After a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831, these laws became even stricter.

Free Black people were often not allowed to vote, carry weapons, meet in groups for worship, or learn to read and write. These rules were meant to keep slavery strong and prevent Black people from gaining power or influence.

In Northern States

Some Northern states, even those that didn't have slavery, also had laws that limited the rights of Black people. States like Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana made it difficult for free Black people to live there. They were often denied the right to vote, go to public schools, or be treated equally under the law.

For example, in Oregon, Black people were not allowed to settle, marry, or sign contracts. In Ohio, Black people needed a special certificate to prove they were free and a bond to show they would behave well.

Many states, both North and South, had laws against marriage between white and Black people. These were called anti-miscegenation laws.

Illinois had some of the toughest Black Codes in the North. In 1853, a law said that Black people from outside the state could not stay for more than ten days. If they did, they could be arrested, fined, or sent away. Even though slavery was illegal in Illinois, some landowners would bring enslaved people from nearby Kentucky to work for no wages. They would send them out of the state for one day each year to prevent them from becoming Illinois citizens.

During the War

During the Civil War, the Union Army sometimes used the labor of newly freed people. However, these workers were not always treated fairly. Some people felt that working for the Union Army was not much better than being enslaved because the pay was so low.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, the Army started a system where Black workers would get paid about $10 a month. They also received food, clothing, and medicine. But they had to sign a contract to work for a full year, and they couldn't break it. Some people, like Wendell Phillips, criticized this system, saying it was like a new form of forced labor.

After the Civil War

After the war, the US Army and the Freedmen's Bureau tried to help Black people, but they also wanted to get the Southern economy working again. Sometimes, the Freedmen's Bureau even helped local authorities arrest Black people who were considered "vagrants" (people without a job) and force them into contract work.

New laws were also passed against marriage between white and Black people in many states. These laws were part of a larger system of racial segregation known as Jim Crow laws.

Labor Shortages and Control

After slavery ended, many white plantation owners faced a problem: they needed workers. Black people, who had been forced to work long hours, naturally wanted to work less and spend more time with their families. This reduction in available labor was a big challenge for the Southern economy, which depended on intense physical work for crops like cotton.

White people often believed that Black people would not work unless forced. They also felt that Black people were inferior. This led to a desire to control Black labor and keep them in a lower social position.

New Laws and Punishments

The Black Codes restricted many rights for Black people. They limited their ability to own property, start businesses, rent land, and move freely. A key part of these codes were the vagrancy laws. These laws made it a crime for Black men to be out of work or not working at a job that white people approved of. If someone couldn't pay a certain tax or broke other minor rules, they could be arrested for vagrancy.

Nine Southern states updated their vagrancy laws between 1865 and 1866. Most of these states allowed "convict leasing." This was a system where arrested people were rented out to private businesses or plantations to work for free. This system encouraged arrests, especially of Black men, because it provided free workers. These workers were kept in terrible conditions. This system was often called "slavery by another name."

Black people also had to sign yearly labor contracts and carry proof of employment to avoid being arrested for vagrancy. Stealing, even small things, could lead to arrest and forced labor. Some states also made it illegal for Black people to carry weapons.

Historian Samuel W. McCall said in 1899 that the Black Codes created a situation "but little better than that of slavery, and in one important respect far worse." This was because owners no longer had a reason to keep their workers healthy and alive, as they no longer "owned" them.

Reconstruction and Jim Crow

The Black Codes made many people in the North very angry. They felt that the South was trying to bring back slavery in a new form. In December 1865, the US Congress was upset by these laws. They saw the Black Codes as a clear sign that the South wanted to keep its old ways.

To fight against the Black Codes, Congress passed important laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment. These laws aimed to protect the rights of African Americans.

After winning more power in the 1866 elections, the Republican Congress put the South under military rule. This lasted until 1877. This period is sometimes seen as the start of the Jim Crow era, which continued racial segregation and discrimination for many decades.

Even under military rule, local areas in the South found ways to continue unfair law enforcement against Black people. They used laws that seemed fair on the surface but were applied in a racist way.

Later, from 1893 to 1909, almost all Southern states passed new vagrancy laws that were even stricter. These laws used unclear language, giving police officers a lot of power. For example, "Pig Laws" gave harsh punishments for crimes like stealing a farm animal, and these were mostly applied to African Americans.

The Supreme Court, in a case called Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), even said that racial segregation was legal as long as facilities were "separate but equal." This made it harder to fight against racist laws.

Groups like the Ku Klux Klan used threats and violence to enforce white supremacy and control Black people. This constant threat of violence helped maintain a system where Black people were forced into unfair labor and denied their rights, like the right to vote.

Mississippi's Laws

Mississippi was the first state to pass new Black Codes after the war. Its laws became a model for other states. One law allowed Black people to rent land only within cities, which stopped them from farming independently. It also required them to show written proof of employment every January. If they didn't, they could be arrested for vagrancy. The arresting officer would even get paid from the arrested person's wages.

Mississippi's laws also punished white people who helped Black people or associated with them as equals. For example, a white person found "associating with freedmen... on terms of equality" could be fined and imprisoned.

Another law allowed the state to take Black children whose parents couldn't support them. These children would then be "apprenticed" (forced to work) for their former owners. Masters could even use physical punishment on these apprentices.

Mississippi refused to approve the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, in December 1865. However, the head of the Freedmen's Bureau, General Oliver Otis Howard, soon declared most of Mississippi's Black Code invalid.

South Carolina's Laws

South Carolina was the next state to pass Black Codes. Its laws on "Domestic Relations of Persons of Color" were very similar to Mississippi's. Being found guilty of vagrancy meant the state could "hire out" Black people to work for no pay. There was also a special tax for Black men and unmarried women, and if they didn't pay, they were guilty of vagrancy.

South Carolina's law also allowed children of poor parents to be forced into apprenticeships. It created separate courts for Black people and made it hard for them to do normal business. The laws even used terms from the old slave codes, like calling bosses "masters."

Black leaders in South Carolina protested these laws. General Daniel Sickles, head of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina, also declared these laws invalid in December 1865.

Louisiana's Laws

Louisiana also passed laws to make sure freedmen were available for farm work. These included yearly contract laws and expanded vagrancy laws. While their vagrancy laws didn't specifically name Black people, they were often used against them.

Local authorities in Louisiana also passed strict rules. For example, in Opelousas, Black people needed written permission to enter the town and couldn't live there or walk at night without a white person's supervision.

Thomas W. Conway, a Freedmen's Bureau official, said in 1866 that these codes were "simply the old black code of the state, with the word 'slave' expunged, and 'Negro' substituted." He found many Black men secretly jailed for minor reasons.

Florida's Laws

Florida's Black Codes, passed in 1866, were very harsh. The vagrancy law allowed punishments of up to one year of forced labor. Children of parents convicted of vagrancy could also be forced into apprenticeships.

These laws applied to anyone with at least one Black great-grandparent. Black workers could be punished for disrespecting white employers. Even if the laws didn't always say "Black" directly, they were enforced in a racist way.

Maryland's Laws

In Maryland, after slavery ended in 1864, there was a big fight over forcing young Black people into apprenticeships. Former slave owners tried to make children of freed people work for many years. The Freedmen's Bureau and others tried to stop this. Eventually, the US Supreme Court ruled that Maryland's apprentice laws were illegal because they violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

North Carolina's Laws

North Carolina's Black Code gave harsher punishments for Black people than for white people for the same crimes.

Texas's Laws

Texas also passed Black Codes in 1866. These laws said that Black people had to choose an employer by a certain deadline. If they quit without a good reason, they would lose all their wages. Workers could be fined for disobedience or missed work. There were also laws for apprenticeship and vagrancy.

Black people in Texas were not allowed to vote, hold office, be on juries, serve in the local army, carry guns on plantations, or go to public schools. Marriage between different races was also banned.

Tennessee's Laws

Tennessee was occupied by the Union Army for a long time during the war. In 1865, Black people in Tennessee had no legal status, and local areas often made up very harsh Black Codes.

However, Tennessee wanted to rejoin the Union quickly. When its legislature started discussing a Black Code, there was so much negative attention from the North that a full Code was never created. Instead, Tennessee allowed Black people to vote and passed a civil rights law giving them equal rights in business and access to courts.

Even so, Tennessee's society and justice system were still racist. While the laws didn't openly discriminate, law enforcement often used existing vagrancy and apprenticeship laws in a way that created a "de facto" (in practice) Black Code. Black children were often forced into apprenticeships with their former owners.

Lasting Impact

Many of the Southern vagrancy laws stayed in place for a long time, some until 1972. Even though these laws were said to prevent crime, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that they were used unfairly against certain groups.

Today, some people argue that the high number of African Americans in prison and the use of prison labor are similar to the historical Black Codes. They say that these practices continue a system of racial inequality, even if racism isn't openly stated in the laws.

The Black Codes show how difficult it was for African Americans to gain true freedom and equality after slavery ended. They highlight the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the United States.

See also

In Spanish: Códigos negros para niños