In 1865, slavery was abolished and made illegal, but white Americans were not ready to give up their power over African Americans just yet. A series of laws entitled the Black Codes were enforced in order to control free black people’s rights. Although slavery was now considered illegal, many of these laws continued to oppress black people in America in extreme ways. Black Codes were slavery in another form because African Americans were not allowed to own a business without the government’s approval, were often enforced into labor contracts, and sentenced to long jail time for minor infractions.
The Black Codes were a form of slavery because free African Americans were not able to pursue full citizenship on their own. The South Carolina Black
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Labor contracts that African Americans made with their “masters” was essentially a continuation of slavery. The Apprentice law states, “ if any apprentice shall leave the employment of his or her master or mistress without his or her consent, said master or mistress may pursue and recapture said apprentice and bring him or her before any justice of the peace of the county, whose duty it shall be to remand said apprentice to the service of his or her master or mistress,” (Apprentice Law, section 4). Now, black people were trapped in contracts with white farmers, and they could not escape these contracts. The terms of the working conditions were very poor. The African Americans working on these farms were called “servants”. They had to work from sunrise to sunset, could not leave without a written pass, were occasionally whipped, and were not allowed to sell any of what they farmed. These conditions were very similar to …show more content…
Coming out of slavery, Black people were now faced with a set of laws pertaining to their everyday life. One example is that Black people were prohibited from owning liquor stores. The South Carolina Black Code States, “It shall not be lawful for a person of color to be owner, in whole or in part, of any distiller where spirituous liquors, or in retailing the same, in a shop or elsewhere. . . .” (South Carolina Black Code, XIV). African Americans were also banned from owning guns, or were taxed highly for them. In the United States, Black people were targeted with these laws. They could not carry out their life in the way that one should and in the way that is outlined in the US Constitution. Because of these laws and the Justice System often favoring White people, African Americans were sentenced to long jail sentences for minor crimes. In addition, Black people often had to complete long laborious tasks in jail, which is what slavery essentially