A person of color who is in the employment of a master engaged in husbandry shall not have the right to sell any corn, rice, peas, wheat, or other grain, any flour, cotton, fodder, hay, bacon, fresh meat of any kind, poultry of any kind, animal of any kind, or any other product of a farm, without having written evidence from such master that he has the right to sell such product.

Persons of color constitute no part of the militia of the State, and no one of them, without permission in writing from the district judge, or a magistrate, shall be allowed to keep a fire-arm, sword, or other military weapon.

It shall not be lawful for a person of color to be owner, in whole or in part, of any distiller where spirituous liquors, or in retailing the same, in a shop or elsewhere.

No person of color shall migrate into and reside in this State unless, within twenty days after his arrival within the same, he shall enter into a bond, with two freeholders as sureties, to be approved by the judge of the district court or a magistrate, in a penalty of one thousand dollars, conditioned for his good behavior and for his support, if he should become unable to support himself.

Upon view of a misdemeanor committed by a person of color, any person present may arrest the offender and take him before a magistrate to be dealt with as the case may require.  In case of a misdemeanor committed by a white person towards a person of color, any person may complain to a magistrate, who shall cause the offender to be arrested.

A child over the age of two years, born of a colored parent, may be bound by the father, if he be living in the district, or in case of his death or absence from the district, by the mother, as an apprentice to any respectable white or colored person who is competent to make a contract. The master shall receive to his own use the profits of the hire of his apprentice.  

All persons who have not some fixed and known place of abode, and some lawful and reputable employment; those who have not some visible and known means of a fair, reputable, and honest livelihood; and common prostitutes; those who are found wandering from place to place, vending, bartering, or peddling any articles of commodities, without a license from the district judge or other proper authority; all common gamblers, persons who lead idle or disorderly lives, or keep or frequent disorderly or disreputable houses or places; who, not having sufficient means of support, are able to work, and do not work; those who (whether or not they own lands or are lessees or mechanics) do not provide a reasonable and proper maintenance for themselves and families; fortune tellers, study beggars, common dunkards, those who hunt game of any description, or fish on the land of others, or frequent the premises, contrary to the will of the occupants, shall be deemed vagrants, and be liable to the punishment hereinafter prescribed.

Labor provisions

All persons of color who make contracts for service or labor shall be known as servants, and those with whom they contract shall be known as masters.

On farms, or in out-door service, the hours of labor, except on Sunday, shall be from sunrise to sunset, with a reasonable interval for breakfast and dinner. Servants shall rise at the dawn in the morning, feed, water, and care for the animals on the farm, do the usual and needful work about the premises, prepare their meals for the day, if required by their master, and begin the farm work or other work by sunrise. The servant shall be careful of all the animals and property of the master, and especially of the animals and implements used by him; shall protect the same from injury by other persons, and shall be answerable for all property lost, destroyed, or injured by his negligence, dishonesty, or bad faith.

Servants shall be quiet and orderly in their quarters, at their work, and on the premises; shall extinguish their lights and fires, and retire to rest at reasonable hours.

No person of color shall pursue or practice the art, trade, or business of an artisan, mechanic, or shop-keeper, or any other trade, employment, or business (besides that of husbandry or that of a servant under a contract for service or labor) on his own account for his own benefit, or in partnership with a white person, or an agent or servant of any person, until he shall have obtained a license therefore from the judge of the district court, which license shall be good for one year only.

Source: “Laws in Relation to Freedmen,” 39 Cong., 2 Sess., Senate Exec. Doc. 6, Freedman’s Affairs, 202-20.