The Black Code

1. The Black Code By: Alex Hart, Kristin McCasland, Wade Johnston, & Will Parker

2. After the 13th amendment was passed, Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau, which was made to help former slaves live a better life. There was some success in the Freedman’s Bureau, but however it did not fix the economic problems for black Americans. They still suffered from poverty, racist threats and laws limiting their rights. In 1865 and 1866 the southern states passed laws called the black codes. The laws completely took away what little rights that they had. When the news of what was going on in the southern states had reached the northern states, a very powerful group of congressmen called Radical Republican passed the 14th amendment, which gave citizenship to black Americans.

3. The idea to limit black peoples’ rights had been around long before the Black Codes were written. Before the Civil War, southern states had Slave Codes to help regulate the institution of slavery. Also, many northern states had laws to limit the rights of free black citizens.

4. The Black Codes were based on the Antebellum Slave Laws in the southern states and regulations in the northern states that prevented black people from having the same rights as white people.

5. The Black Codes were extinguished due to Radical Republican Reconstruction and the 14th amendment. The Black Codes were the opposite of the Jim Crow laws which allowed black citizens to be separate but equal, while the Black Codes limited their rights.