es. In all
states the Negro was given his day in court, and in cases relating to
Negroes his testimony was accepted; in six states he might testify
in any case. When provision was made for schooling, the rule of race
separation was enforced. In Mississippi the "Jim Crow car," or separate
car for Negroes, was invented. In several states the Negro had to have
a license to carry weapons, to preach, or to engage in trade. In
Mississippi, a Negro could own land only in town; in other states he
could purchase land only in the country. Why the difference? No one
knows and probably few knew at the time. Some of the legislation was
undoubtedly hasty and ill-considered.

* Fourth in Tennessee.

But the laws relating to apprenticeship, vagrancy, and enforced punitive
employment turned out to be of greater practical importance. On these
subjects the legislation of Mississippi and South Carolina was the most
extreme. In Mississippi orphans were to be bound out, preferably to a
former master, if "he or she shall be a suitable person." The master
was given the usual control over apprentices and was bound by the usual
duties, including that of teaching the apprentice. But the penalties for
"enticing away" apprentices were severe. The South Carolina statute was
not essentially different. The vagrancy laws of these two states were in
the main the same for both races, but in Mississippi the definition
of vagrancy was enlarged to include Negroes not at work, those "found
unlawfully assembling themselves together," and "all white persons
assembling themselves with freedmen." It is to be noted that nearly all
punishment for petty offenses took the form of hiring out, preferably
to the former master or employer. The principal petty offenses were, it
would seem, vagrancy and "enticing away" laborers or apprentices. The
South Carolina statute contains some other interesting provisions. A
Negro, man or woman, who had enjoyed the companionship of two or more
spouses, must by April 1, 1866, select one of them as a permanent
partner; a farm laborer must "rise at dawn," feed the animals, care for
the property, be quiet and orderly, and "retire at reasonable hours;"
on Sunday the servants must take turns in doing the necessary work, and
they must be respectful and civil to the "master and his family, guests,
and agents;" to engage in skilled labor the Negro must obtain a license.
Whipping and the pillory were permitted in Florida for certain