Final answer:
Slave codes were laws to control the lives of people of color post-Civil War, including labor, social order, and restrictions on legal rights. Black Codes followed, imposing harsh punishments and restrictions, maintaining a system akin to slavery. These controls differed from African slavery, where integration back to society was possible.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rules that governed the punishment of enslaved Africans, often referred to as 'slave codes', were a set of laws enacted to control every aspect of the lives of people of color in the newly reconstructed Southern states post-Civil War. These laws, dubbed Black Codes, were largely based on earlier Slave Codes from the pre-emancipation period. The Black Codes regulated legal rights, social interactions, labor contracts, and consequences for breaking these laws, which were often severe and meant to maintain a social order akin to slavery.
In South Carolina, Slave Codes over time restricted the free trade and self-sufficiency of slaves, making them dependent on their masters. The Black Codes that followed the Civil War aimed to carry on these traditions by restricting rights such as owning property, testifying against whites in court, and intermarriage, with the threat of harsh punishments including fines, whipping, and imprisonment.
These systems of slave control varied from the practice of slavery in African societies, where slaves could eventually acquire certain rights and be reabsorbed into society. However, in the New World, African slavery was a condition often resulting in a life-long status of bondage, characterized by relentless physical violence, psychological intimidation, and the constant threat of family separation.