The south’s black codes started during the reconstruction era, when the blacks were freed from slavery. The southern whites did not like how the recently freed blacks had the same amount of rights they had, so legislatures across the south passed black codes. Black codes are laws intended to restrict the freedom and opportunities of African Americans (Hart, 135). The codes restricted the black to have very few rights, such as owning land, marry file lawsuits and work for wages. the codes also enforced workers for former slave owners by requiring former slaves to sign yearly labor contracts, and if they did not they would be forced to work for free. The only difference before and after the Civil War, was that the black’s could marry, work for
