plural black codes
Definition of black code
in U.S. history
: any of various racially discriminatory laws that were passed in 1865 and 1866 in states that had been part of the Confederate States of America and that were enacted in order to maintain white supremacy (see white supremacy sense 2) after the formal abolition of slavery at the end of the U.S. Civil War
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“Black code.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20code. Accessed 5 Aug. 2021.
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The first known use of black code was in 1865
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