This series of laws was called the Black Codes.
Most Black Codes were passed in 1865-66 in Southern states to control the conduct of newly-freed African Americans after the Civil War.
Depending on the state, they established rules regarding:
- the legitimacy of black people's jobs (if their work was not recognized by whites, they could be considered criminal vagrants),
- their right to own property (like land) or businesses,
- their movement through public spaces,
- their right to carry weapons,
- their right to marry or live with whites, etc.
Lincoln risked starting a war with the Confederate States who may interpret the action as Northern aggression.
African American men helped elect Republicans in the south, because the platform for Republican candidates was to bring an end to slavery
