Jim Crow Laws Research Paper

Opelousas, Louisianas’ Black Codes passed in 1865 stated that, no negro could come into town, live, rent, or use land in town, go to any public meeting in town without a pass from a government official or white boss, they also couldn’t carry a gun unless in the military (Doc. B) a white person could do these things by their own choice. Former slave Henry Adams said to the U.S. Senate in 1880 that, he once asked the madam “‘ where was the boss?”’ She said, “‘You should say ‘master’ You are not free... and you shall call every white lady ‘missus’ and every white man ‘master’.’” (Doc. C.), many would say African Americans weren’t free because whites didn’t think they

     Certain black codes pertained to whites as well. It was unlawful for a black to marry a white, or vice versa. Anyone found convicted of the crime could be sent to prison for life. Many contracts were drawn up as ‘permissions’ for certain blacks. If a freedman ever broke a work contract, he would be forced to forfeit his wages for one full year. Any civilian was permitted to capture and return freedmen who broke their contract. They were rewarded five dollars plus ten cents for every mile he was captured from his owner. However, if anyone was found attempting to persuade a black to break his contract, or give a deserting black any aid, he/she could be convicted of a misdemeanor and forced to pay a fine.

The Civil War was fought over the “race problem,” to determine the place of African-Americans in America. The Union won the war and freed the slaves. However, when President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a hopeful promise for freedom from oppression and slavery for African-Americans, he refrained from announcing the decades of hardship that would follow to obtaining the new won “freedom”. Over the course of nearly a century, African-Americans would be deprived and face adversity to their rights. They faced something perhaps worse than slavery; plagued with the threat of being lynched or beat for walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the addition of the 14th and

The newly passed laws became known as “Black Codes” and socially, they directly impacted the lives of all freedmen and indirectly benefited the white race. These laws restricted the rights of free African-American men and women (Doc A). In Opelousas, Louisiana, some of these restrictions were the denied right to keep or own a house in the town, the denied right to enter the town without special permission, the denied right to hold public meetings, the denied right to carry firearms or any kind of weapon, and a requirement that every negro must be in service of some white person (Doc A). The elite members in the South did everything they could to prevent blacks from gaining civic power, and the reasoning for supporting these codes ranged from fearing black political influence to the comfort of knowing farmers still had a stable and reliable work force. Even in the post civil war North, people believed blacks were unfit to be government officials (Doc E). Pro-freedman presses ran racist letters arguing blacks were not fit for the proper exercise of political duties, and their generation needed a period of probation and instruction in order to learn the ways in which society ran (Doc E). Many northerners felt blacks were incompetent to hold important jobs; therefore, the government was in no way aiding the reconstruction efforts to provide equality to all people in America.

lso, In July 3, 1865, there was a document that was passed in Opelousas,Louisiana,called “Black Code” to keep color people in check.In the document of the “Black Codes” Created by Many Southerners after the civil way one of the law was,”No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within the limits of the town under any circumstances” and “No public meetings of negroes shall be allowed within the limits of the town of Opelousas under any circumstances without the permission of the mayor or president of the board of police”.Also, this is an perfect example of how they(African Americans) were being violated of their laws, because in the first amendment 1, it states, “Abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and that they were told you “CANNOT HAVE A MEETING” which again across the freedom to have a assemble.Therefore, that this document,”Black Codes” is one of the best examples of how even though they were free after the civil war according to the documents.Some historians might say or people that african americans were, free during the reconstruction era but however, from the point of views of slaves and other such documents they were

The state of Mississippi, as well as many other southern states, created what was known as The Black Codes. The Black Codes of Mississippi were essentially put in place to keep African-American’s living in Mississippi from being able to live their lives as white men and women could during the time of Reconstruction. Different codes were enforced in different states, but they were all based around the same idea that African-American’s should have to follow a different set of rules and regulations than whites due to the simple fact that they were black. One of these codes even violated the Second Amendment. In section one under the Penal Laws of Mississippi category it is clearly stated that no freedman, unless employed by the United States military or properly licensed by a board

Mississippi did not want to completely allow them their free rights so they controlled the ones they got so that they could keep their power over them as they did during slavery. In the first section of the document they can be sued and can sue. In the second section, they were now allowed to intermarry with each other in the same manner and regulations as white people. In the fourth section in some cases they are now by law to competent witnesses, civil cases, plaintiff(s), defendant(s) and all of that “fun” court stuff. In the fifth section, it talks about employment which to me seemed like one of the hardest laws that they had. In sections five and six, it talks about how they were allowed to hold jobs but had to have a legal document like a contract provided. At any given time, the legislature could revolve the contracts and all of the contracts had to be written if the work period was longer than one month. Another section stated that anyone of the age of eighteen, that did not have a job or that was engaging themselves together with whites would have to pay a fine and would be thrown in jail. They also limited them by putting a specific amount of “one hundred dollars annually to each person taxed.” The audience of the freed people was stated clearly throughout each of the section and how they would be punished if they broke the law but the legislature also appointed it to whites. These are just parts of the way the legislature kept them as close as they could to slavery but the legislature also made sure to include whites in specific sections of the document to give them laws

According to the text Give Me Liberty, the government passed laws that prevent blacks from gaining basics right such as “... limited access to the courts ... denied them the rights to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state militias, or to vote” (570). However, The Mississippi Black Code demonstrate how black codes also enforce segregation, “...it shall not be lawful for any freedman, free negro, or mulatto to intermarry with any white person; nor for any white person to intermarry with any freedman, free negro, or mulatto…”(VOICE OF FREEDOM 8). These are two primary example of why black codes were established. White southern had to determine how to coexist with free slaves and black codes would ensure control over the black labor by constructing unjust laws due to the abolishment of slavery. During this time period the ownership of land and control of labor was important in the South and there were debates about the terms of slavery such as the issue of land, control of labor, and political power. Southern planters strongly believe that freedom of former slave would mean the “absence of

About a hundred years after the Civil War, almost all American lived under the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow Laws actually legalized segregation. These racially enforced rules dominated almost every aspect of life, not to mention directed the punishments for any infraction. The key reason for the Jim Crow Laws was to keep African Americans as close to their former status as slaves as was possible. The following paper will show you the trials and tribulations of African Americans from the beginning through to the 1940’s where segregation was at its peak.

This “war on drugs,” which all subsequent presidents have embraced, has created a behemoth of courts, jails, and prisons that have done little to decrease the use of drugs while doing much to create confusion and hardship in families of color and urban communities.1,2Since 1972, the number of people incarcerated has increased 5-fold without a comparable decrease in crime or drug use.1,3 In fact, the decreased costs of opiates and stimulants and the increased potency of cannabis might lead one to an opposing conclusion.4 Given the politics of the war on drugs, skyrocketing incarceration rates are deemed a sign of success, not failure. I don’t totally agree with the book (I think linking crime and black struggle is even older than she does, for instance) but I think The New Jim Crow pursues the right line of questioning. “The prison boom is not the main cause of inequality between blacks and whites in America, but it did foreclose upward mobility

How Free Were Free Blacks in the North? Mahiro Fukushima PD1 Have you ever thought about how “free” black men were in the 1850s? According to the US census, in 1960, 476,000 blacks were free, 250,000 of these living in the South, another 221,000 living in the North (Background Essay). Even though we say “free”, what does “free” mean?

Mississippi Black Codes were written out of frustration of the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. To Southerners at the time, it seemed unacceptable to deem newly freedmen citizens, much less people. Furthermore, the implementation of Black Codes was far less romantic than what is consecrated in the legal writings. Often times African Americans were abused and simply treated as livestock for the “violations” in which they encroached upon. Further under the surface as to why these laws existed was a spurn of hate for the African American. Because of the fears of what these people could do, as well as the newfound economic burden placed upon plantation owners, legislators wanted to make sure that since African Americans were no longer slaves they could not enjoy the same rights as Caucasian Americans. Contrary to the Black Codes, Ida Wells and Dr. King spoke of peaceful justice being approached and achieved. How they chose to conduct themselves was far less abrasive and violent than how most Southern bureaucrats approached the issue. Wells and King spoke of endearment and acceptance, choosing not the view the difference in pigmentation a reason for discrimination but rather a reason to love and commune. The believed this way because they believed in the value of human life. There was no difference to value one human less than another because of skin tone; African Americans had every right to American freedom as their Caucasian brothers and sisters. When being attacked for their beliefs, King chose not to fight fire with fire, but rather endure the persecution which he was subject to so that the validity of his message would not be undermined. The differences vastly separate the quality of Wells and Dr. king versus Mississippi Black Codes. It is the differences, not the similarities, which allow the United States to

If Black people are so lazy, then why is there is so much vitriol towards Black people trying to do their own things. That proves that they want us to lose our identity and become like them. They blame us for our faults, yet set parameters and rules on how to get out of our struggle. Why is our culture talk down upon, yet we are "integrated." Why are our names not wildly accepted, yet we are "integrated." Why are our language seen as uneducated, yet we are "integrated." Why are our hairstyles are seen as ghetto, yet we are "integrated." All we did when we "integrated" is assimilate. We validated their superiority and our inferiority. Jim Crow and segregation is not the same thing. Jim Crow was what hurted Black people not segregation. When

Once the Civil War ended, southern whites were at a loss on how to treat African Americans as equals. Due to strict reconstruction laws, whites were expected to treat African Americans as equals, but any equality African Americans may have gained after the Civil War was quickly lost due to the implementation of Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws were a way for whites in the South to legally keep their race supreme over any other races—mainly African Americans. Basically, Jim Crow Laws pushed the idea that blacks were less than whites. In Richard Wright’s Uncle Tom’s Children, the author lays out fictional stories of Jim Crow Laws in Mississippi and how it effected African Americans during that time. Although fictional, Uncle Tom’s Children shows

All men were not created equally in the time of the Civil War. America was not “the land of the free” because not every man was created equal. For years blacks have been treated worse than whites and have not been given the pleasure of surpassing the way they have been treated. Nothing has changed. Even though laws have made stating that black people are free they are still undergoing nonqual treatment. “The land of the free” is not so free when people are still being treated as if they are nothing.