As the population of black immigrants in the United States increased, legal codes were developed to ensure that they did not become threats to the whites in the United States. The following were some of the legal codes that were put in place;
- Blacks were not supposed to assemble in large numbers.
- Any black who committed murder, raped or committed crimes such as stealing several times would be punished through being hanged.
- The owners of the slaves had the authority to punish slaves. Punishment could even be through killing.
- The dress that slaves would wear was limited. This made it easy to differentiate a slave and a white from a far distance.
- All able bodied whites were given the responsibility of monitoring the behavior of blacks.
- The movements of blacks were regulated by the whites. They were also prevented from carrying any kind of weapon that would be used for defense purposes.
These codes had many negative impacts on the lives of Africans in the United States. Slaves became like assets that belonged to the white people. Blacks could die anytime since killing was just a punishment for the blacks who annoyed the whites. Attacks by whites increased since blacks could not stay together. They had no weapons to defend themselves and when attacked by whites with dangerous weapons, their lives were in danger.
These codes gave the white a chance to exploit the black slaves. Whites got a chance to make blacks to work on their farms. They would whip them to force them to perform their duties without rest. The blacks were given very little food as a punishment and this weakened the health of the slaves in the region.
Through the codes put in place, the places that blacks would move to were limited. It means that this group was denied the freedom of movement. This is among many other rights that the blacks were denied.
In conclusion, the codes that were put in place made the lives of slaves in the United States more difficult. Freedom of movement, freedom of association, right to live and right to own property was among the rights that the slaves were denied. Generally, the codes increased the suffering of the slaves.
