Laws governing people of African descent in nine ancestral states
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A note on legal status and taxation: These laws applied to all people of African descent — enslaved and nominally "free." After chattel slavery was institutionalized, people of African descent were explicitly denied citizenship and the rights that came with it: they could not vote, testify in court against whites, hold public office, or in many states even travel freely. Yet they were simultaneously bound by every law and, as property owners or laborers, paid taxes — including taxes that funded courts that denied them standing, schools that excluded their children, and militias organized to control them. This table documents that legal architecture, state by state.
Disclaimer: The laws listed here are representative examples of the Black Codes and statutes in force during each period. This reference is far from exhaustive — each state produced dozens of relevant laws, amendments, and local ordinances across these centuries, and enforcement practice often diverged significantly from the written statute. Entries have been selected to illustrate the range and character of legal restriction; researchers are encouraged to consult primary legislative records and archival sources for a complete picture.