How did the government in the south attempt to control freedmen?

After the Civil War, Southern governments implemented Black Codes to control freedmen and restrict their rights. These laws aimed to limit their mobility, labor choices, and access to public services, effectively maintaining a system of racial subjugation. Additionally, practices such as sharecropping and vagrancy laws further entrenched economic dependence and social control over the African American population. The intent was to preserve white supremacy and the socio-economic hierarchy that existed before the war.