of Negroes to hold land as tenants. A statute of Mississippi[27] in 1865 gave them the right to sue and be sued, to hold property, etc., but declared that the provisions of the statute should not be construed to allow any freeman, free Negro, or mulatto to rent or lease any lands, except in incorporated towns or cities in which places the corporate authorities should control the same. The same statute required every freeman, free Negro, or mulatto to have on January 1, 1866, and annually thereafter, a lawful home and employment with written evidence thereof. If living in an incorporated town, he must have a license from the mayor, authorizing him to do irregular job work—that is, if he was not under some written contract for service; if living outside such a town, he must have a similar license from a member of the board of police of his precinct.
Tennessee,[28] on the other hand, went to the length of expressly throwing open all trades to Negroes who complied with the license laws which were applicable to whites and blacks alike.
SALE OF FIREARMS AND LIQUOR TO NEGROES
A fruitful subject of legislation was that relative to the sale of firearms to Negroes. On January 15, 1866, the legislature of Florida[29] enacted a law declaring that it was unlawful for a Negro to own, use, or keep in his possession or control "any bowie-knife, dirk, sword, firearms or ammunition of any kind" unless he had obtained a license from the probate judge of the county. To get the license, he had to present the certificate of two respectable citizens of the county as to the peaceful and
