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This is Episode 63 – They were known as the “black Codes” . Remember now in the decade that followed the Civil War, Texas was in as much confusion and chaos as it had ever seen in its short history as a state. Not only were Texans faced with political, social, and economic issues that had been caused by the war but the issues that had caused the war in the first place were still around.

It is true, that emancipation freed the slaves and that act actually dramatically altered the labor system that many of the wealthy landowners and economic power brokers had come to rely on. It also forced a new dynamic between the white and Black populations. Not only did these changes have the potential to wreak havoc on the plantation owners’ economic power, but it also threatened both their social and political status.

If we’re being honest if you look around today, you’d swear there are people who want to take us back to those days, people who are still threatened by any and all minorities. Why do I say that, well, it’s because of two things that took place in America after the civil war and actually weren’t undone until the mid-1960s. And even though laws have been passed, the prejudice that existed before the mid-60s still exists today, because today’s boomers were raised and lived under what was known as Black codes and many of them passed their old prejudices down to their children.

So, what were Black Codes?  After the war, white southern leaders were in no mood to give their newly freed slaves any rights. Now they couldn’t just re-enslave them, so they did what legislators do, they passed laws that severely restricted the rights of their black citizens. For example, here in Texas the Eleventh Legislature produced a series of laws in 1866 whose sole purpose was to reaffirm the inferior position that slaves and free blacks had held in the south and to regulate black labor.

In Texas, the codes clearly reflected the unwillingness of White Texans to accept blacks as equals and also their fears that freedmen would not work unless coerced. To ensure this happened, the codes were written so that the state was able to continue legal discrimination between whites and blacks. One measure they took, was to amend the 1856 penal code in which they emphasized a definite line between whites and blacks by defining all individuals with one-eighth or more African blood as persons of color, subject to special provisions in the law.

The basic cornerstone of the codes was an “Act to define and declare the rights of persons lately known as Slaves, and Free Persons of Color” passed in 1866. Which some did declare that it was a ‘civil rights’ law, and while this law did give blacks, some basic property rights; for instance, they could make and enforce contracts; sue and be sued; make wills; and lease, hold, or dispose of real and personal property. The state further guaranteed blacks the rights of personal security and liberty and prohibited discrimination against them in criminal law. Some people then, and even some politicians today claim that what they passed was a civil rights bill, but was it?

Actually, no it wasn’t. Why? It specifically left in effect a multitude of legal restrictions that had been passed in earlier bills. For example, blacks were not allowed to vote or hold office, they could not serve on juries. Now they could testify in court, but only if the case involved another black person. Interracial marriage was specifically outlawed. In case, these restrictions weren’t enough to ‘as the saying went’ keep them in their place, other restrictions were added through different laws.

Railroads were required to keep blacks separate from whites and that gave an opportunity to create segregated facilities in almost all public buildings.

What about education, after all it is the cornerstone for a strong society. Texas created an education law that specifically excluded blacks from sharing in the public-school fund.

Well, what about housing? Same thing there, the homestead law was written to make sure that blacks were prohibited from having access to public lands.

When it came to labor laws, trying to exert maximum control over black workers was complicated by the state not being able to resort to actual slavery.

What they ended up creating was a set of laws and statutes that all interacts to essentially give both local political leaders and the rich landowners free reign in coercing free labor from blacks under the threat of arresting them and using them as forced labor.

Now, revisionists will say there was no real harm because the laws didn’t actually mention any specific race. The reality is the were aimed at and enforced against the black population.

The first step they took involved the apprentice law. A law allowing apprentices, sounds innocent , right? Well, this particular law made it ok to sign minors as apprentices with the consent of their parents OR (and here’s the kicker)  through an order of the county court. So far so good, now the next sections should remind everyone of slavery, because the law required “masters” to provide food, clothing, medical attention, humane treatment, and education for some type of trade or occupation. Farm labor was one of the approved occupations or trades.  The “master” then was guaranteed the use of the apprentice’s labor and the power to inflict corporal (physical) punishment to ensure work – remember slaves were often whipped, same thing here. The law also gave master’s the rights to chase any apprentice who tried to run away and ordered that any person who interfered with the apprentice / master relationships be heavily fined. Jurisdiction over enforcement of this law rested with the county court.

Local economic interests were taken care of by this contract law, after all even back then big money controlled everything and politicians all sought to curry favor with the rich. So, in this case all labor agreements that called for a person to work for more that a month had to be I writing and had to be on filed with the county court. In the case of ag workers, they were given a lien on half of the crop to theoretically ensure that they would be paid. Needless to say, the owners, I mean employers, had strong guarantees that they would be able to deduct wages for things such as disobedience, wasting time, theft or destruction of property, or even unauthorized absence from the home. Local control over contract issues was certain, for authority over these matters was given to a court consisting of a local justice of the peace and two landowners. Needless to say, the workers had little recourse when things went bad.

The last of the black codes I want to touch on is the vagrancy law. The law gave local courts and the police the power to arrest anyone they defined as idle. They could then fine the person and when they could not pay the fine contract out their labor to various landowners.

 Under this law minor vagrants could be apprenticed – a polite way to turning them not forced labor, but anyway. The local courts had the power to assign a convict to any type of labor until any fine was paid off. The state gave the locals power to put people to work if they had been sentenced to county jail for any misdemeanor.

When combined with the vagrancy law, the convict-labor law gave the entrenched landowners and white establishment a perfect way to intimidate any former slave.

That’s going to do it for this episode, I’ll go into some more detail in the next episode which shouldn’t be as long as this one was.

If you get a chance, please subscribe to the podcast. If you want more information on Texas History, visit the website of the Texas State Historical Association. I also have four audiobooks on the Hidden History of Texas, The Spanish Bump Into Texas 1530s to 1820s,  Here Come The Anglos 1820s to 1830s, Years of Revolution 1830 to 1836. And A Failing Republic Becomes a State 1836-1850. You can find the books pretty much wherever you download or listen to audiobooks. Just do a search for the Hidden History of Texas by Hank Wilson and they’ll pop right up. Or visit my website https://arctx.org. By the way if you like audiobooks, visit my publisher’s website there’s an incredible selection of audiobooks there. Check it out visit https://ashbynavis.com

Thanks for listening y’all