SLAVE AND BLACK CODES

SLAVE AND BLACK CODES

“Slave codes’ were strict measures and regulations that were created in the 1660s to control the activities of slaves, especially in regions with a high number of slave populations. These measures were intended to maintain an economic and political system in the United States based on forced labor. Furthermore, the slave codes aimed to protect the social structure from rebellion. On the other side, the ‘Black code’ was passed and enacted in the United States after the formal abolition of slavery at the end of the American civil war. Moreover, these codes were passed with the sole purpose of maintaining white supremacy.

Before the end of the American Civil War, slave codes made it illegal for a group of more than seven male slaves to walk or travel in public without the presence of a white man. Additionally, the slave codes indorsed white men to reprimand and punish any slave who stepped out of line. Moreover, the numerous restrictions prohibited slaves from owning firearms, free social interactions, political participation, and even attending school. The slave codes also permitted the whites to apprehend slaves who violated these codes. After the end of the American civil war, the whites were mainly scared of free blacks’ influence on slaves. Therefore, the United States created ‘Black Codes, ‘ which were restrictions that illegalized interactions between free blacks and slaves. These codes required blacks to carry ‘freedom papers’ regularly inspected by the police. Similar to slave codes, blacks were not permitted to participate in politics, move freely, carry or own firearms, and testify against whites. Also, it was a punishable crime for a black man to use menacing gestures or provoking language to a whiter person. Black men who violated these laws faced police brutality, including corporal punishment or being forced back to slavery.