Ohio Black Codes
© Courtesy of the University of Michigan Law Library
Despite being a free state and home to some of the nation’s most active abolitionists,
Ohio had very oppressive and discriminatory laws that specifically targeted African
Americans. The Ohio Black Codes made it illegal for blacks to vote, testify in court,
receive an education, be employed in skilled jobs, or live in white neighborhoods. The
codes also required blacks moving into the state to present their freedom papers. They
were amended in 1807 to prohibit interracial marriage and black gun ownership.
1
Just north of the Mason-Dixon line, Ohio played an important part in the
Underground Railroad and anti-slavery struggle. Abolitionists like John Rankin in
Ripley and Levi Coffin in Cincinnati helped freedom seekers cross the Ohio River
and led them to safer destinations further north. Despite being a free state and home
to some of the nation’s most active abolitionists, Ohio had very oppressive and
discriminatory black codes.
As part of the Northwest Territory, slavery was never legalized in Ohio—a statute
the state carried into its constitution (Middleton 7). Ohio entered the union in 1803
and enacted its first black codes in 1804. The codes were harsher than the already
oppressive state constitution that claimed “that all Negroes and mulattos now in or
who may hereafter reside in, this State, shall not be entitled to all the privileges of
citizens of this State excepted by this Constitution” (Middleton 39). The Black Codes
made it illegal for blacks to vote, testify in court, receive an education, be employed
in skilled jobs, or live in white neighborhoods. The codes also required blacks
moving into the state to present their freedom papers. Those who could not produce
freedom papers were not allowed to be hired for work or settle in the state
(Middleton 49).
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That from
and after the first day of June next, no black or mulatto person shall be
permitted to settle or reside in this state, unless he or she shall first
produce a fair certificate from some court within the United States, of
his or her actual freedom, which certificate shall be attested by the
clerk of said court, and the seal thereof annexed thereto, by said clerk.
(Ohio Black Codes)
The Ohio Black Codes were amended in 1807 to forbid interracial marriages and
African American gun ownership. It also required all black residents to post a $500
surety bond conditioned on their good behavior (Nelson 2). Despite these
oppressive laws, free and formerly enslaved blacks continued to settle in the state.
2
Works Cited & Further Reading
Benedict, Michael Les and John F. Winkler. The History of Ohio Law. Athens: Ohio
University Press, 2004.
Nelson, Henry Addison. Report on the Condition of the People of Color in the State of
Ohio. Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1839.
“1804 Ohio Black Codes.” The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and
Diplomacy. Yale Law School, 2008. Web. 31 July 2013.
3