Black Codes

Adah L. Ward Randolph

The Black Codes originated from Slave Codes and were analogous to Jim Crow laws. They hindered the social, economic, political, and educational progress of African Americans. Black Codes' purpose was to define the civil status of free African Americans throughout the United States. Black Codes undermined African American civil protection and excluded African Americans from public institutions including churches, theaters, and even cemeteries. Most significant, they excluded or limited African Americans' participation in equal educational opportunity. Although many people in the United States comprehend the meaning of Jim Crow, the Black Codes are less known. Even fewer people in the United States know of Slave Codes. All three of these legal practices proscribed the civil status of enslaved Africans and free African Americans prior to and after the Civil War. Depending on the historical era or geography, African Americans were subjected to these discriminatory measures that limited their rights as ...

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