Randi Carrillo
“Mississippi Black Codes”
The “Mississippi Black Codes” are a series of laws that were passed in the southern states in
1865. These laws were based on the slave codes from before the Civil War. They were the first set of
black codes in the south. The Black Codes granted African Americans some rights, but not many. These
codes were ways of keeping African Americans from having the same equal rights as white men. They
were based on of the slave codes the southern states had before the Civil War. These documents were
written in Mississippi by the Mississippi Legislature. The Mississippi Black Codes did not give African
Americans equal rights as whites. There was still a lot of discrimination and the blacks were still treated
like slaves.
The “Mississippi Black Codes” were intended for the freedmen in the southern states. In this
case Mississippi, so that they knew their rights, what they could and could not do after they were freed.
The Codes were a way for the south the regain control over the freed slaves and for labor to remain
cheap. The codes were a way for the whites to stay superior to the blacks. There were many points
made in the “Mississippi Black Codes.” The main points in this document are that freedmen were
allowed to marry. This was one of the rights that freedmen received. There are also rules to this right.
Intermarriages between whites and blacks were forbidden. A black could only marry another black. If
they did intermarry, they could be put in prison for life. They also gained other rights such as the right
to own their own property, make contracts and testify in court. Another main law is that freedmen
were required to carry around proof of current employment at all times. Freedmen worked under
contract and, if they were to break their labor contract, they were subject to arrest, beating, and were
forced to work without pay. This is very similar to the slavery that blacks were just freed from. The
southern states did this on purpose. They wanted these new codes to be as close to slavery as possible
because they did not like the idea of free African Americans. Although there are similarities there are
also differences such as the new law that they are allowed to marry and own property.
The Black Codes were written in 1865 right after the end of the Civil War. This was a time when
there was a lot of discrimination against African Americans, especially in the southern states such as
Mississippi where they used African Americans as slaves for all the labor work. This is a big reason as to
why the “Mississippi Black Codes” were written the way they were, giving African Americans some rights
but still restricting against most rights given freely to whites.
Racism and discrimination did not seem like a big deal in 1865, like it is today. Today, it is law
that everyone is treated equally. In 1865, things were much different. African Americans did not have
equal rights as the white people did. The “Mississippi Black Codes” made sure that the gave the
freedmen as few rights as they could while still holding them back from many more. The Mississippi
Legislature which wrote the first black codes put the convenience of white people first, particularly the
white people of the south. They wanted the whites to remain superior to the black people. They
wanted to remain as close to slavery as they could. Although the “Mississippi Black Codes” freed the
African Americans after the Civil War and finally allowed some rights to the freedmen, it did not allow
for complete rights and the freedmen were still denied many rights that were freely given to whites.