The Black Codes

May 9, 1865 – Present

The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866 in the United States after the American Civil War with the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans’ freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt. Although the article I am citing from say’s the laws were repealed in 1866, we already know, that ain’t so. Black codes were essentially replacements for slave codes in those states. Before the war in states that prohibited slavery, some Black Codes were also enacted. Northern states such as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and New York enacted Black Codes to discourage free blacks from residing in those states and denying them equal rights, including the right to vote, the right to public education, and the right to equal treatment under the law. Some of these northern black codes were repealed around the same time that the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished. Most did not.

The term Black Codes was given by “negro leaders. The defining feature of the Black Codes was broad vagrancy laws, which allowed local authorities to arrest freed people for minor infractions and commit them to involuntary labor. This period was the start of the convict lease system. Vagrancy laws date back to the end of feudalism in Europe. Introduced by aristocratic and landowning classes, they had the dual purpose of restricting access of “undesirable” classes to public spaces and of ensuring a labor pool. Over the period of 1687–1865, Virginia enacted more than 130 slave statutes, among which were seven major slave codes, with some containing more than fifty provisions. “Black codes” in the antebellum South contained more regulations of free Blacks than of slaves. Chattel slaves basically lived under the complete control of their owners; free blacks presented a challenge to the boundaries of White-dominated society.

Black Codes in the antebellum South heavily regulated the activities and behavior of blacks. North Carolina restricted slaves from leaving their plantation; if one tried to date a woman on another property, he risked severe punishments at the hands of the patrollers or needed a pass in order to pursue this relationship. In many southern states, particularly after the insurrection of 1831, free Blacks were prohibited from the basic constitutional rights to assemble in groups, bear arms, learn to read and write, exercise free speech, or testify against white people in Court.

The insurrection of 1831 is known in black circles as the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion. Rebel slaves killed from 55 to 65 people, at least 51 being white. The rebellion was put down within a few days, but Turner survived in hiding for more than two months afterwards. There was widespread fear in the aftermath, and white militias organized in retaliation against the slaves. The state executed 56 slaves accused of being part of the rebellion, and many non-participant slaves were punished in the frenzy. Approximately 120 slaves and free blacks were murdered by militias and mobs in the area. State legislatures passed new laws such as prohibiting education of slaves and free black people and requiring white ministers to be present at all worship services. Eventually Nat was caught. The funny thing is they put him on trial. A savage black murdering dog given a trial? Believe me, some folks just wanted to get it done. But the powers that be wanted to make an example out of him. He was convicted and sentenced to death. Asked if he regretted what he had done, he responded, “Was Christ not crucified?” He was hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia, and his corpse was drawn and quartered. For years afterwards, there was constant experimentation on finding a way to bring him back, so that they could hang him again…true story… okay let me stop that…

Anyway, back to the Black Codes. Article 13 of Indiana’s 1851 Constitution stated “No Negro or Mulatto shall come into, or settle in, the State, after the adoption of this Constitution.” The 1848 Constitution of Illinois contributed to the state legislature passing one of the harshest Black Code systems in the nation until the Civil War. The Illinois Black Code of 1853 prohibited any Black persons from outside of the state from staying in the state for more than ten days, subjecting Blacks who violated that rule to arrest, detention, a $50 fine, or deportation. In some States, Black Code legislation used text directly from the slave codes, simply substituting Negro or other words in place of slave.

One of the oldest examples of black code came from Ohio in 1804:

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio , That from and after the first day of June next. no black or mulatto person shall be permitted to settle or reside in this state, unless he or she shall first produce a fair certificate from some court within the United States, of his or her actual freedom, which certificate shall be attested by the clerk of said court, and the seal thereof annexed thereto, by said clerk.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted , That every black or mulatto person residing within this state, on or before the fifth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and four, shall enter his or her name, together with the name or names of his or her children, in the clerk’s office in the county in which he, she or they reside, which shall be entered on record by said clerk, and thereafter the clerk’s certificate of such
record shall be sufficient evidence of his, her or their freedom; and for every entry and certificate, the person obtaining the same shall pay to the clerk twelve and an half cents. Provided nevertheless , That nothing in this act contained shall bar the lawful claim to any black or mulatto person.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted , That no person or persons residents of this state, shall be permitted to hire, or in any way employ any black or mulatto person, unless such black or mulatto person shall have one of the certificates as aforesaid, under pain of forfeiting and paying any sum not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, at the discretion of the court, for every such offense, one-half thereof for the use of the informer and the other half for the use of the state; and shall moreover pay to the owner, if any there be, of such black or mulatto person, the sum of fifty cents for every day he, she or they shall in any wise employ, harbour or secret such black or mulatto person, which sum or sums shall be recoverable before any court having cognizance thereof.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted , That if any person or persons shall harbour or secret any black or mulatto person, the property of any person whatever, or shall in any wise hinder or prevent the lawful owner or owners from retaking and possessing his or her black or mulatto servant or servants, shall, upon conviction thereof, by indictment or information, be fined in any sum not less than ten nor
more than fifty dollars, at the discretion of the court, one-half thereof for the use of the informer and the other half for the use of the state.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted , That every black or mulatto person who shall come to reside in this state with such certificate as is required in the first section of this act, shall, within two years, have the same recorded in the clerk’s office, in the county in which he or she means to reside, for which he or she shall pay to the clerk twelve and an half cents, and the clerk shall give him or her a certificate of
such record.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted , That in case any person or persons, his or their agent or agents, claiming any black or mulatto person that now are or hereafter may be in this state, may apply, upon making satisfactory proof that such black or mulatto person or persons is the property of him or her who applies, to any associate judge or justice of the peace within this state, the associate judge or justice is hereby empowered and required, by his precept, to direct the sheriff or constable to arrest such black or mulatto person or persons and deliver the same in the county or township where such officers shall reside, to the claimant or claimants or his or their agent or agents, for which service the sheriff or constable shall receive such compensation as they are entitled to receive in other cases for similar services.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted , That any person or persons who shall attempt to remove, or shall remove from this state, or who shall aid and assist in removing, contrary to the provisions of this act, any black or mulatto person or persons, without first proving as hereinbefore directed, that he, she or they, is or are legally entitled so to do, shall, on conviction thereof before any court having cognizance of the same, forfeit and pay the sum of one thousand dollars, one-half to the use of the informer and the other half to the use of the state, to be recovered by action of debt, qui tam , or indictment, and shall moreover be liable to the action of the party, on mother…. you got me, I added that. But they was serious about they racism.

I could go on and on about the black codes. They eventually morphed into Jim Crow. For our younger readers, Jim Crow were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. The name come from a white actor named Thomas Dartmouth. He was propelled to stardom for performing minstrel routines as the fictional “Jim Crow,” a caricature of a clumsy, dimwitted black slave. That’s him in the picture. Well that’s it. The black codes were primarily enacted so that freed men and women would be forced to work for little or nothing or leave whatever state they were in. Only thing there was no place to go. For more on the black codes please check out this link.

Reprint: Hill1News 2019 ©

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