ipl-logo

Analysis Of The Mississippi Black Codes Of 1865

818 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mississippi black codes essay

In the summer of 1865 the Presidential Reconstruction took place for southern states. This reconstruction for the states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas) gave the southern people who swore an oath of allegiance pardons and amnesty, it also restored most or all of their property to them (except slaves). In each state they would also have to proclaim secession illegal and ratify the thirteenth amendment at their state convention. Theses people who swore the oath were also aloud to elect delegates to their states conventions, which would provide for regular elections. Though this deal could be a very could thing for many southern people some weren’t aloud to take the deal, Confederate officers, …show more content…

This deal could be considered a good thing for the southerners but many people were upset about having to pass the thirteenth amendment, which guaranteed certain freedoms for the African Americans in the south. To retaliate for this seven states passed the “black codes”. The black codes made it so that the African Americans had to work for very little money and ensured that they were landless and an extremely dependent labor force. Section 6 of the Mississippi Black Codes of 1866 are a perfect example of how controlling these codes were, the section states that when African Americans go to work for someone they must have a contract and if the contract isn’t upheld or if the laborer quits before the contract is up then they forfeit their wages for that year up to the time of quitting. Though the codes couldn’t directly block the thirteenth amendment, they could make parts of the amendment illegal, for example African Americans could marry each other but the black codes made it illegal for them to marry people of other races. Along with not being able to marry people of other races they also weren’t aloud to serve on a jury or give court testimonies against people of other races, …show more content…

Though seven states passed the black codes they tended to vary between states, like how in South Carolina it was required for blacks who wished to enter nonagricultural employment to get a special license or in Mississippi the codes tried to block their ability to buy and sell farmland. Many parts of these codes didn’t take effect because of the union suspending the enforcement of racially discriminatory provisions of the new laws (Boyer et al, p.473). The black codes revealed many white southern intentions and many northerners denounced what they were doing and called it southern defiance. Even many congressmen were upset about the black codes and in December of 1865 they refused to seat the delegates from ex-Confederate states, this actually established the first joint committee (the house and the senate). The Radical Republicans (just a faction of the Republican Party that also supported blacks freedoms in most cases) were very out raged at the treatment of the newly freed slaves and they tried to dismantle the black codes and also tried to lock the ex- Confederate people out of power all together. The southern white government had a range of ways they controlled how the newly freed slaves lived their lives and what freedoms they could have and which ones the government didn’t want them to have but over time these barriers were

Show More
Related

Mississippi Black Codes Research Paper

233 Words | 1 Pages

What ultimately were these codes designed to do? The Mississippi Black Codes were laws passed by the Southern government to restrict the freedom of the blacks. These codes were to restrict the blacks from engaging in whites ' activities despite them being freed from slavery. The blacks were offered free society and were free to demonstrate their liberations and were allowed to own personal families as women also left working in fields and house servants.

Read More

Why Did The Southern States Implementation Black Codes

133 Words | 1 Pages

Once the Radical Republicans gained control over Congress, the president was helpless. (Shultz, 2014). Even though the Southern states implemented Black Codes, the Radical Republicans had their own agendas. The Military Reconstruction Act irritated the Southern states. However, they were no competition for Congress.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Reconstruction

826 Words | 4 Pages

  Although slavery had been outlawed by the Thirteenth Amendment, it continued in many southern states. In an effort to get around laws passed by Congress, southern states created black codes, which were discriminatory state laws which aimed to keep white supremacy in place. While the codes granted certain freedoms to African Americans, their primary purpose was to fulfill an important economic need in the postwar South. To maintain agricultural production, the South had relied on slaves to work the land. Black codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their ties to the land.

Read More

Dbq Essay On Reconstruction

750 Words | 3 Pages

In the 19th century, slavery and the Reconstruction was a sore subject for the South. Reconstruction forged civil rights for African-Americans, but once the North’s influenced waned in the South, the South terrorized African-Americans and blocked them from accessing their newfound rights. While Reconstruction may have brought civil rights, those rights were quickly squashed by the South’s racism. Even after certain freedoms were securely gained, every new attempt to make African-Americans equal to the white populace was contested. A large group of people were happy to see slavery ended and civil rights rise.

Read More

The Dred Scott Decision And Bleeding Kansas

756 Words | 4 Pages

This decision angered both northerners and southerners. The North was upset due to the decision, which declared that black Americans didn’t count as citizens, which made no effort in the abolition of slavery. The South’s issue was that the majority of their state population was African American, and would give them less representatives if they did not count as citizens, or people in general. This affected the election of Abraham Lincoln, which led to the South’s succession and the start of the

Read More

A Very Brief History Of The Mississippi Black Codes

1719 Words | 7 Pages

The Black Codes allowed for the southern states to be content by still having more rights than African Americans. With slavery ending, they needed to find a way

Read More

Reconstruction Dbq

870 Words | 4 Pages

Many people did not agree with these changes because they felt that African Americans were not fit or well educated enough to have the same rights and to have

Read More

Reconstruction Dbq

491 Words | 2 Pages

Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.

Read More

Slavery In Colonial Virginia Essay

517 Words | 3 Pages

Although not every African American was a slave, slavery came to only be limited to people of African descent. Throughout the time of slavery, white people were worried that the slaves were going to rebel. Fearing that the slaves were gonna cause more trouble colonial authorities wrote slave codes. These slave codes prohibited slaves to own their own weapons, leave the plantation without permission and even meet in large groups. The slave rebelled up until slavery ended in 1865.

Read More

Black Code Of Reconstruction Essay

1097 Words | 5 Pages

The reconstruction was said to have brought a change. However, Newly free slaves faced many challenges, and whites in the south saw blacks as way less than they did before. Black codes were introduced as a way to give people of color freedom in a constitutional form. They were unique to southern states and they each had their own variation of them. It was a way to restrict the black labor force and freed people as much of slave status as possible.

Read More

Reconstruction After The Civil War Essay

645 Words | 3 Pages

But, when these officials were elected to Congress, they passed the “black codes” and thus the relations between the president and legislators became worst (Schriefer, Sivell and Arch R1). These so called “Black Codes” were “a series of laws to deprive blacks of their constitutional rights” that they were enacted mainly by Deep South legislatures. Black Codes differ from a state to another but they were stricter in the Deep South as they were sometimes irrationally austere. (Hazen 30) Furthermore, with the emergence of organizations such as the Red Shirts and the White League with the rise of the Conservative White Democrats’ power, efforts to prevent Black Americans from voting were escalating (Watts 247), even if the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S constitution that gave the Blacks the right to vote had been ratified in 1870.

Read More

Failure Of Reconstruction Essay

1136 Words | 5 Pages

One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Read More

Post Civil War And Reconstruction Essay

393 Words | 2 Pages

Reconstruction era, which was followed by post-civil war, was meant to unite the states back together, reconstruct properties, and most importantly, abolish slavery in the South. Although the factors such as amendments legally freed former slaves, yet WRITE THESIS After the end of civil war in 1865, Reconstruction era, which was controlled by President Abraham Lincoln, appeared to quickly coalesce the Northern and Southern states. reconstruction amendments, which were approved between 1865 and 1870, played a huge role on giving legal rights to blacks and former slaves. 13th amendment constitutionally abolished slavery in 1865 and followed up by that, 14th and 15th amendment admitted equal citizenship, protection, and rights of suffrage despite the one’s race or skin color. Former slaves were no longer belongings of their owners.

Read More

New World Slavery In America

1000 Words | 4 Pages

After Mississippi enacted their first black code, then South Carolina enacted one of their own. Which forced black people to only work as a farmer or a servant and if they did not they would be taxed $10-$100. Soon after, all southern states had their own

Read More

Essay On Failures Of Reconstruction

835 Words | 4 Pages

In the period of reconstruction, there was a lack of racial equality and racism towards blacks. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, with the exception of allowing it as a punishment for a crime (“Thirteenth Amendment” 19). Although it abolished slavery, there was still a lack of equality towards blacks. The Black Codes were state laws in the south, that were implemented in 1866. These laws limited the rights of African Americans and were

Read More

More about Analysis Of The Mississippi Black Codes Of 1865

Related Topics

Open Document