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After the Civil War
(1865-1870)

Black Codes

Black Codes
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.81

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    fined, ratify, slavery, entire, finding, marriage, guilty, agreement, working, power, jobs, stayed, often, fact, vote, former
     content words:    Civil War, Black Codes, Thirteenth Amendment

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Black Codes
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     Now that the Civil War was over, blacks wanted the same rights that whites had. Many whites in the South did not want this to happen. They did everything in their power to continue to control the blacks who stayed in the South.
 
2     One way they tried to control blacks was with Black Codes. These codes or rules were a way for whites to try to keep things the same as they were before the Civil War. These rules would limit the freedoms of blacks who used to be slaves.
 
3     Black Codes were different in every state in the South. But many of the laws were very similar. They all had the same goal in mind. The laws would continue to control the lives of former slaves.
 
4     The states started the codes after they rejoined the Union. Under the Republican plan, the states had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment before they could rejoin the Union. This amendment outlawed slavery in the entire country. The Black Codes were a way to still control the former slaves.

Paragraphs 5 to 13:
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