The Civil War has ended in 1864 as the Reconstruction began. The North and South have begun to rebuild while in the south, the slaves have won their freedom. Hold on a minute, did they really win their freedom?? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The white people still believed that they were more superior than the blacks and that the blacks must be under their authority. That was when the Black Codes created.
In 1865, the white southerners have long anticipated to maintain their sovereignty over the blacks. The Black Codes were created during Andrew Johnson's presidency. The purpose of the Black Codes was to keep the blacks under the white supremacy by limiting their rights. The Black Codes prohibited the blacks from voting, performing jury duty, testifying against the whites, or even performing occupations of their choice. The blacks can't even hold or sell property and they must have the permissions to enter any town.
The Black codes also targeted the unemployed. If anyone who is unemployed will be charged of vagrancy. This way, the person can get arrested or be fined. Because of the Black Codes prohibiting the rights to choose any occupation, the blacks were assigned as agricultural workers or domesticated servants. They were stuck with the Codes dictating the number of hours of labor a day and terms of labor until expiration. If they were to try and escape from labor or quit before expiration term then they will get arrested or be returned to their employers.
However this form of Black Codes didn't apply to all Southern states. There were so many different forms of Black Codes in each state but all of them imposed great restrictions on the blacks. For instance, in the state of Florida, the blacks weren't allowed to bear arms. If they were carrying weapons then they will have to surrender the weapons then be whipped thirty-nine times! Same penalty goes for the blacks having any association with the whites. However in Louisiana, the blacks weren't allowed to be on the streets after ten at night or the consequences will be working extra five days or paying five dollars. Now five dollars might seemed nothing to you but it was alot for a black person who didn't have any money.
Since the ending of the civil war, the blacks have never won the freedom they truly deserved; until the formations of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. During this time in 1865, the Radical Republicans tried to pass the Civil Rights Bill to protect the blacks from the Black Codes but the bill was vetoed by President Johnson. Ever since, the Radical Republicans had been prompting the idea of the bill until they finally passed it along with the Reconstruction Acts in 1867-1868; a year or two after the Black Codes were suspended. However, despite those acts, the white people gradually restored control over the southern governments when organizations such as Ku Kux Klan were able to frighten the blacks from voting in elections...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
i do not agree with the black codes of 1865. it is not fair that african americans could not own property, vote, or perform jury duty. also different states had different black codes. like flordia, a black person didnt have the rights to bear arms. that is an amendment in the constitution. it was not fair, for what the african americans had to go through.
The black Codes is a topic that i love and have researched a lot about. it was really cruel the things that african americans went through during this period. They sort of acted as a gaurdian for african americans. everything they did white people had to be informed about it. as eleventh graders we are getting older and having more freedom with driving and other things. Imagine having what you want to do be regulated by someone other than and more stricter than your mom...Pretty harsh!
this topic is very popular , i also dont agree with the codes because to takes some one rights away. that is clearly givven to a white man and not a black man. when the only diffrence is the color of the skin. with is nothing but visual theres nothing wrong with blacks and the codes of 1865 iis just crazy not being aloud to vote or own property .
Your blog was really good. I enjoyed reading it. I never knew so much about the black codes. I really learned a lot from reading your blog. I never knew southerners were so mean. People were really cruel back then. Im glad things aren't like that now at least not where we are at.
wow. i never knew about that. its crazy how the south got their behinds handed to them and they still manage to go above the law. the probably wasnt aware of what was going on.i think it cruel and rather unusual.
Your blog taught me some more stuff I did not know. I like how you mentioned that after they were freed they reall were not free because they still had so many things thy could not do. They also had more to deal with because the KKK. That was a really good blog.
This was a very good blog. I learned a lot more about the black codes after reading your blog. I just think that even though the south lost the war, they still tried hard as ever to get things there way with the black codes. Great Blog!!
It was really horrible what the African Americans had to go through. Even when the south was losing they still went above the law and limiting black powers. The blacks should have had just as much right to vote as anyone else. This subject annoys me very much. Your blog was good though.
This was a very good blog about Black Codes. I learned there were so many different versions of Black Codes in various states. This essay helped me to understand to be thankful, for the civil rights that I have today because. This type of situation were some certain people, are restricted from rights happens today all over the world. For example in Middle Eastern countries, people who have been raised in Islamic beliefs are restricted from joining another religion. If a person becomes a Christian they would suffer, serious consequences from the government.
your blog was great. the black codes where wrong,but it made a difference. it changed the way the black people thought. and they fought againist it.which later lead the women women fought againist it.
wow, good blog.
I had never heard of the Blacks code of 1865 before reading this. that's totally unfair to prevent african americans from doing such important things like owning property, voting, and having jury duty (although it sucks.. haha)
your blog helped me learn a lot.
good job! :)
Post a Comment