Episode #011322: What were the black codes?

The black codes were proposed laws that basically tried to keep a form of slavery alive and well after the end of the Civil War. It didn't last long but the shadow of those codes still exist today.

AI Summary

# Stuff You Should Know - The Black Codes

This episode dives into one of the darkest chapters of American history: the Black Codes, a series of laws enacted in the South immediately after the Civil War to essentially re-enslave freed Black people. Josh and Chuck explore how Southern states created an intricate system of labor contracts, vagrancy laws, and debt peonage that forced formerly enslaved people back into bondage by another name, all while technically complying with the 13th Amendment's abolition of slavery. Through detailed examples from Mississippi and South Carolina, the hosts reveal how these laws were designed to recreate the slave economy and how they set the stage for Jim Crow segregation and the prison labor system that continues today.

Movies Discussed

Exterminate All the Brutes

2021 TV-MA

★ 7.4

"if we're recommending documentaries along these lines, I'm going to recommend the HBO four part documentary, Exterminate All the Brutes. — Chuck recommends the HBO documentary series about colonization and genocide throughout history." — Chuck

Family Guy

1999

★ 7.4

"I wonder if we did that for like 10 minutes, like a Family Guy episode, if people would just turn it off. — Josh uses Family Guy as an example of repetitive comedy that might cause viewers to turn off the show." — Josh

Friday the 13th

1980 1h 35m

★ 6.4

"there's an awesome documentary on Netflix about the 13th Amendment and the implications it has. Just, it's called 13th and it is a, it's one of those documentaries that's like life changing after you watch it. — Josh recommends the Netflix documentary about the 13th Amendment and its connection to mass incarceration." — Josh

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