Slave Codes In Virginia

The Virginia Slave Codes date all the way to early 1600s. During the 17th century, indentured servants, who decided to work for an affirmed amount of time in replace for their means of access to the "New World", were a handy resource of manual labor for the American colonies. Both blacks and whites served under the system (Goldenburg 1). White servants, after working out their time of agreement, often progressed to appreciated places in the society. On the other hand, their black correspondents, who totaled to about 2,000 in Virginia in 1670, were rarely given the same treatment. By the middle of the century, they were usually regarded as servants for life. In the late 1650s, laws referring to slaves started to

Despite the black codes had provided rights such as the marriage legalization and the ownership of property, they violated the free labor principle and denied the African-Americans the right to vote, and sue any white man. Foner (2014) found “In response to planter’s demands that freed people be required to work on the plantations, the Black Codes declared that those who failed to sign yearly labor contracts could be arrested and hired out to white landowners” (p. 570) . In fact, it was a totally failure of what freedom was supposed to be.

But life in North America for Africans would see a dramatic shift as the laws and rules progressed. Slave codes were laws that basically took away all rights of Africans living in North America. This would serve as a permanent handicap for Africans for almost two centuries. Then the colonist took a dramatic horrible step used in the states as well as the colonies. Dehumanizing. This would be the greatest contributor of racism in the United States. This Law passed in Virginia in 1705, would allow English Colonist to treat Africans as property, disregard their feelings or wellbeing, and deny them of basic human rights. And these practices would carry over well into the 20th century.

After the slaves surrendered, the remaining members of the slaves that rebelled were hung for their crimes. These slaves were made an example to all other slaves, making them not even want to attempt to rebel in the future. This rebellion led to much harsher slave codes that were enforced in the colony. It also restricted the slaves so much that it meant that they could not go anywhere without their owners permission at any time. “The Negro Act of 1740 was passed which prohibited enslaved people from growing their own food, assembling in groups, earning money they, rather than their owners, could retain or learning to read.” (The Black Past.org)

     After the Civil War, in 1865, the southern plantation owners were left with minimal labor. They were bitter over the outcome of the war and wanted to keep African Americans under their control. Black Codes were unique to the southern states, and each state had their own variation of them. In general,

Soon this need for cheap labor was replaced with a need for even cheaper labor. Slavery filled this need, but when Africans arrived to America in 1619, the colonists initially treated them as indentured servants. It was not until 1641 that the first slave codes were passed in the colony of Massachusetts and 20 years later in Virginia, marking the

Black Codes is the mainstream name given to the statutes went by Southern slave states, before and instantly after the American Civil War. From the pioneer time frame, provinces and states had passed laws that oppressed free Blacks. In the South, these were for the most part incorporated into slave codes; the objective was to lessen impact of free blacks as a result of their potential impact on slaves. Restrictions included denying them from voting, remaining battle ready, and assembling in gatherings for love and figuring out how to read and write. A noteworthy reason for these laws was to save slavery. In the initial two years after the Civil War, white ruled southern legislatures passed Black Codes displayed after the before slave codes.

Middle Colonies had codes that advanced slave industry which denied African slaves from basic rights. There were laws particularly for African Americans for instance, in New York, slaves couldn't show up in the city after dark without a lit light. Larger

When the Civil War ended and slaves were free, Black Codes were established by states. Black Codes were specifically made to limit the freedom of African Americans and forced them to work in poor conditions with low wages. As explained by

1: Black Codes: A body of laws, statutes, and rules enacted by southern states immediately after the Civil War to regain control over the freed slaves, maintain white supremacy, and ensure the continued supply of cheap labor.

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

The seventh section of these black codes allowed for the return of freed blacks to their employers if they were to quit “the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause.” What a blacks’ term of service and what defined just cause for ending that term of service, would likely be left up to the employer, creating a system which virtually defined slavery itself. Since blacks were required to be employed, this meant that they could be held in slave-like conditions to white employers.

The Black Codes was masked slavery. Other than some new, small leniencies, Mississippi succeeded in making laws that that still controlled African Americans. These Sections were created for the South to bend the rules by exploiting children. These laws were aimed at minors under the age of 18 that were orphans or whose parents were unable to financially provide for them. At this point, the child would be placed back in the “care” of their former master or mistress. These codes stated that the best interest of the minor was to be protected, that they were to be fed, clothed, treated humanely; taught to read if under the age of fifteen and to receive medical attention when sick. In return, the minor, or apprentice would be bounded by indenture until the age of eighteen for a female and twenty one for a male. It was also acceptable for the former owner to chastise under what was allowed for punishment by the common law. If the child were to escape, it was permitted to place the child in jail if refused to return. That only discharge from a master/mistress would be possible if the courts believed the apprentice had a good cause to quit. Those are just few examples to begin with. These codes essentially worked to separate the races in all aspects of life from children to adults, such as marriage, which would result in life in prison if wedded to a white person. They also were not allowed to own any type of weapon unless they served in the United States military, and were to be fined and possibly imprisoned to even drinking liquor to a level of intoxication. Over all, these are just a few of the examples that were laws to “freed” men to be kept

SLAVE CODES 1. What specific restrictions were placed on slaves? Restrictions that were placed on slaves included; not being allowed to read or write, and owners were required to search their slaves for suspicious activity every day. Some other restrictions are; slaves weren’t allowed to own weapons, leave their owner’s plantation without permission, or raise a hand against a white person, even in self-defense. The slave codes in the northern states weren’t as harsh as the southern codes, but there were similar laws that they had to follow.

The seventeenth century Englishmen, in colonial Virginia, developed a legal system to accommodate and perpetuate slavery. However, the colonial, lawmakers had to develop rules to balance the tension between treating Africans as property. Slaves were, considered property, also they were property because they were black. Nevertheless, this was the legal basis for treating people as property.