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Our History Now Podcast
Black History is and has been suppressed in our society either by editing the facts or outright omission to create a false narrative. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept their version of reality. Please visit our website www.ourhistorynow.com.
Our History Now Podcast
Invisible Shackles: The Impact of Black Codes on African Americans In The Years Immediately Following the Civil War.
Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws were enacted in Southern states after the Civil War as attempts to restrict the freedoms and labor of newly emancipated African Americans. They highlight how these laws, which often criminalized minor offenses like vagrancy or quitting a job, created a system of forced labor and economic dependency that closely resembled slavery. We also connect these codes to the exception clause in the 13th Amendment, which permitted involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, and note that these discriminatory practices paved the way for Jim Crow laws and continued to impact racial inequality for decades. The sources emphasize the fierce opposition to these laws from Northerners, particularly Republicans in Congress, and their role in prompting the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment.