Black Codes: How The South Tried To Re-Enslave Free Blacks

On this day in 1865 Mississippi passed some of the first “Black Codes” laws that were meant to circumvent the 13th Amendment.

These laws required that all free negros and mulattos register with local officials of both the county and town where they lived, had to register to marry. They also had to be employed and have papers proving they were employed at all-times as well as proof of having a home.

One of the ways these laws could be used to circumvent the Constitution was the employment law which read in part: “every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service” It was not up to the freeman to determine if he was being treated well in a job or quit the job on his own.

Another part of these Black Codes was a system basically re-enslaving orphaned children: “An Act to Regulate the Relation of Master and Apprentice, as Relates to Freedmen, Free Negroes, and Mulattoes” for example required sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other county civil officers were authorized and required to identify all minor Black children in their jurisdictions who were orphans or whose parents could not properly care for them. Once identified, the local probate court was required to “apprentice” Black children to white “masters or mistresses” until age 18 for girls and age 21 for boys.

There was no requirement to pay these “apprentices” and a minor’s former master had preference. In effect, this provision guaranteed that former owners had preference to ensure that the children of their former slaves would continue to labor for the master.

These laws in Mississippi effectively eliminated true social mobility or autonomy for Freemen.

Also any freedman who was unemployed within two weeks of the new year in 1866, was a vagrant. A vagrant needed to pay a fine, and if the vagrant was unable to pay the fine within five days, then the vagrant would be forced into jail and ultimately into unpaid labor.

Many of these laws were duplicated throughout the south forcing Congress to ratify the 14th and 15th Amendments in 1868 and 1870

Sources:

https://mwmblog.com/2020/06/19/black-codes/

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/legal/docs6.html

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/mississippi-black-codes-1865-1866/