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 offenses, and in South Carolina
the master might "moderately correct" servants under eighteen years of age.
Other punishments were generally the same for both races, except the hiring
out for petty offenses.

From the Southern point of view none of this legislation was regarded as a
restriction of Negro rights but as a wide extension to the Negro of rights
never before possessed, an adaptation of the white man's laws to his peculiar
case. It is doubtful whether in some of the states the authorities believed
that there were any discriminatory laws; they probably overlooked some of the
free Negro legislation already on the statute books. In Alabama, for example,
General Wager Swayne, the head of the Freedmen's Bureau, reported that all
such laws had either been dropped by the legislature or had been vetoed by the
governor. Yet the statute books do show some discriminations. There is a
marked difference between earlier and later legislation. The more stringent
laws were enacted before the end of 1865. After New Year's Day had passed and
the Negroes had begun to settle down, the legislatures either passed mild laws
or abandoned all special legislation for the Negroes. Later in 1866, several