The legislation finally framed showed in its discriminatory features the combined influence of the old laws for free Negroes, the vagrancy laws of North and South for whites, the customs of slavery times, the British West Indies legislation for ex-slaves, and the regulations of the United States War and Treasury Departments and of the Freedmen's Bureau--all modified and elaborated by the Southern whites.In only two states, Mississippi and South Carolina, did the legislation bulk large in quantity; in other states discriminating laws were few; in still other states none were passed except those defining race and prohibiting intermarriage.
In all of the state laws there were certain common characteristics, among which were the following: the descendant of a Negro was to be classed as a Negro through the third generation,* even though one parent in each generation was white; intermarriage of the races was prohibited; existing slave marriages were declared valid and for the future marriage was generally made easier for the blacks than for the whites.In all states the Negro was given his day in court, and in cases relating to Negroes his testimony was accepted; in six states he might testify in any case.When provision was made for schooling, the rule of race separation was enforced.In Mississippi the "Jim Crow car,"or separate car for Negroes, was invented.In several states the Negro had to have a license to carry weapons, to preach, or to engage in trade.In Mississippi, a Negro could own land only in town; in other states he could purchase land only in the country.Why the difference? No one knows and probably few knew at the time.Some of the legislation was undoubtedly hasty and ill-considered.
* Fourth in Tennessee.
But the laws relating to apprenticeship, vagrancy, and enforced punitive employment turned out to be of greater practical importance.On these subjects the legislation of Mississippi and South Carolina was the most extreme.In Mississippi orphans- orphans were to be bound out, preferably to a former master, if "he or she shall be a suitable person." The master was given the usual control over apprentices and was bound by the usual duties, including that of teaching the apprentice.But the penalties for "enticing away"apprentices were severe.The South Carolina statute was not essentially different.The vagrancy laws of these two states were in the main the same for both races, but in Mississippi the definition of vagrancy was enlarged to include Negroes not at work, those "found unlawfully assembling themselves together," and "all white persons assembling themselves with freedmen." It is to be noted that nearly all punishment for petty offenses took the form of hiring out, preferably to the former master or employer.The principal petty offenses were, it would seem, vagrancy and "enticing away" laborers or apprentices.The South Carolina statute contains some other interesting provisions.A Negro, man or woman, who had enjoyed the companionship of two or more spouses, must by April 1, 1866, select one of them as a permanent partner; a farm laborer must "rise at dawn," feed the animals, care for the property, be quiet and orderly, and "retire at reasonable hours;" on Sunday the servants must take turns in doing the necessary work, and they must be respectful and civil to the "master and his family, guests, and agents;" to engage in skilled labor the Negro must obtain a license.Whipping and the pillory were permitted in Florida for certain offenses, and in South Carolina the master might "moderately correct" servants under eighteen years of age.
Other punishments were generally the same for both races, except the hiring out for petty offenses.
From the Southern point of view none of this legislation was regarded as a restriction of Negro rights but as a wide extension to the Negro of rights never before possessed, an adaptation of the white man's laws to his peculiar case.It is doubtful whether in some of the states the authorities believed that there were any discriminatory laws; they probably overlooked some of the free Negro legislation already on the statute books.In Alabama, for example, General Wager Swayne, the head of the Freedmen's Bureau, reported that all such laws had either been dropped by the legislature or had been vetoed by the governor.Yet the statute books do show some discriminations.There is a marked difference between earlier and later legislation.The more stringent laws were enacted before the end of 1865.After New Year's Day had passed and the Negroes had begun to settle down, the legislatures either passed mild laws or abandoned all special legislation for the Negroes.Later in 1866, several states repealed the legislation of 1865.
In so far as the "Black Laws" discriminated against the Negro they were never enforced but were suspended from the beginning by the army and the Freedmen's Bureau.They had, however, a very important effect upon that section of Northern opinion which was already suspicious of the good faith of the Southerners.They were part of a plan, some believed, to reenslave the Negro or at least to create by law a class of serfs.This belief did much to bring about later radical legislation.
