---
title: "Black Codes — Definition & Meaning | Model Diplomat"
description: "Black Codes were laws enacted in 1865-66 to control freed African Americans in the South, aiming to recreate conditions of plantation labor."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/black-codes"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Black Codes were restrictive laws enacted by Southern U.
- S.
- Which state passed the first Black Code and when?
- How did the Black Codes lead to the Fourteenth Amendment?
- What is the difference between Black Codes and Jim Crow laws?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Black Codes were restrictive laws enacted by Southern U.S. states in 1865–66 to control freed African Americans and recreate plantation labor conditions after slavery's abolition.

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In November 1865, Mississippi enacted the first Black Code, requiring every African American to show written proof of employment each January or face arrest for vagrancy and forced hire to white planters.

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