from
B L A C K
C O D E S
O F M I S S I S S I P P I
O F 1 8 6 5
–––––––––––––––––– Mississippi State Legislature
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CHAPTER III
Section 9
Be it further enacted,…that in case a freedman is
committed and either he or
his employer fails for five days to pay his fine or
penalty the sheriff shall hire
such freedman to any person who will pay such fine and
costs…and in case the
fine and costs are paid by the employer he may retain
it out of any wages then
due the freedman.…
CHAPTER IV
AN ACT to confer Civil Rights on Freedmen, and for
other purposes.
Section 1
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Mississippi, That all freedmen,
free negroes and mulattoes may sue and be sued,…in all
the courts of law and
equity of this State, and may acquire personal
property…by descent or
purchase, and may dispose of the same, in the same
manner,…that white
persons may: Provided that the provisions of this
section shall not be so
construed as to allow any freedman, free negro or mulatto,
to rent or lease any
lands or tenements, except in incorporated towns or
cities in which places the
corporate authorities shall control the same.
Section 2
Be it further enacted, That all freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes may
intermarry with each other.…
Section 3
Be it further enacted, That all freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes, who
do
now and have heretofore lived and cohabited together
as husband and wife
shall be taken and held in law as legally married, and
the issue shall be taken
and held as legitimate for all purposes. That it shall
not be lawful for any
freedman, free negro or mulatto to intermarry with any
white person; nor for
any white person to intermarry with any freedman, free
negro or mulatto; and
any person who shall so intermarry shall be deemed
guilty of felony, and on
conviction thereof, shall be confined in the State
penitentiary for life,…
Section 5
Be it further enacted, That every freedman, free negro and mulatto, shall,
on
the second Monday of January, one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six, and
annually thereafter, have a lawful home or employment,
and shall have written
evidence thereof.…
Section 6
Be it further enacted, That all contracts for labor made with freedmen, free
negroes and mulattoes, for a longer period than one
month shall be in writing
and in duplicate…and if the laborer shall quit the
service of the employer,
before expiration of his term of service, without good
cause, he shall forfeit his
wages for that year, up to the time of quitting.
Section 7
Be it further enacted, That every civil officer shall, and every person may
arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any
freedman, free negro or
mulatto, who shall have quit the service of his or her
employer before the
expiration of his or her term of service without good
cause, and said officer and
person, shall be entitled to receive for arresting and
carrying back every
deserting employee aforesaid, the sum of five dollars,
and ten cents per mile
from the place of arrest to the place of delivery,
[to] be paid by the employer.…
CHAPTER VI
AN ACT to amend the Vagrant Laws of the State.
Section 5
Be it further enacted, That…in case any freedman, free negro or mulatto,
shall fail for five days after the imposition of any
fine or forfeiture upon him or
her for violation of any of the provisions of this
act, to pay the same, that it shall
be, and is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of the
proper county to hire out
said freedman, free negro or mulatto, to any person
who will, for the shortest
period of service, pay said fine or forfeiture and all
costs: Provided, a preference
shall be given to the employer, if there be one, in
which case the employer shall
be entitled to deduct and retain the amount so paid
from the wages of such
freedman, free negro or mulatto, then due or to become
due.…
CHAPTER XXIII
AN ACT to punish certain offences therein named, and
for other purposes.
Section 1
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Mississippi, That no freedman,
free negro or mulatto…shall keep or carry fire-arms of
any kind, or any
ammunition, dirk or bowie knife, and on conviction
thereof, in the county
court, shall be punished by fine, not exceeding ten
dollars, and pay the costs of
such proceedings…and it shall be the duty of every
civil and military officer to
arrest any freedman, free negro or mulatto found with
any such arms or
ammunition, and cause him or her to be committed for
trial in default of bail.
Section 2
Be it further enacted, That any freedman, free negro or mulatto, committing
riots, routs, affrays, trespasses, malicious mischief,
cruel treatment of animals,
seditious speeches, insulting gestures, language or
acts, or assaults on any
person, disturbances of the peace, exercising the
function of a minister of the
Gospel, without a license from some regularly
organized church, vending
spirituous or intoxicating liquors, or committing any
other
misdemeanor…shall, upon conviction thereof, in the
county court, be fined,
not less than ten dollars, and not more than one
hundred dollars, and may be
imprisoned, at the discretion of the court, not
exceeding thirty days.…
Approved November 29, 1865.