The Black Codes

What were the black codes? What role did they play in the early stages of Reconstruction? The policy of President Johnson to encourage Southern legislators to manage their own affairs resulted in passage of notorious “Black Codes” in 1960s. The purpose of the codes was to reduce the status of free blacks to something worse than slaves. Passage of Black Codes cannot be attributed only to white extremists or Southern legislators but had its roots in the ordinance passed at Opelousas, a small town in Louisiana. The ordinance forbade the residence or entry of freed blacks in the town and violators were subject to public punishments and fine. Negroes were also forbidden to associate or congregate in public, perform religious rites, carry…show more content…
In 1867, Reconstruction Act was passed under which there were to be five military districts in the South. The act gave directions for organizing government on the basis of universal male suffrage. Southern states were required to endorse the 14th Constitutional Amendment before joining the Union which granted equal rights of citizenship to freed slaves (Barnes & Conolly 237-46). The process continued as the 15th Amendment took effect in 1870 thereby removing all sorts of discrimination and affirming the right of vote for all. The union was complete by the end of 1970 and none of the confederate remained out. From then on, it was a period of radical reconstruction as progressive state constitutions began to emerge (Scroggs…show more content…
Black Power in Dixie A Political History of African Americans in Atlanta. Florida: University Press of Florida, 1962. 84-90. Web. .
Barnes, D.A., Catherine Conolly, et al. "Repression, the Judicial System, and Political Opportunities for Civil Rights Advocacy During Reconstruction."Sociological Quarterly. 40.2 (1999): 237-46. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121237>.
Feldman, Glen. "Soft Opposition: Elite Acquiescence and Klan-Sponsored Terrorism in Alabama." Historical Journal. 40.3 (1997): 753-777. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .
Scroggs, Jack B. "Southern Reconstruction: A Radical View." Journal of Southern History. 24.4 (1958): 407-29. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/2954670>.
Weisberger, Bernard A. . "The Dark and Bloody Ground of Reconstruction Historiography." Journal of Southern History. 25.4 (1959): 427-44. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .
(Weisberger