 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution |
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The Fifteenth Amendment granted the right to vote to African American men by prohibiting the denial of suffrage based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
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| Albert Wiley v. Moses Keokuk |
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The habeas corpus petition of Moses Keokuk shows legal challenges to Indigenous sovereignty in the late nineteenth century.
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| Alice McKay v. John Kevan and Della Kevan |
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The habeas corpus petition of Alice McKay shows legal challenges related to child custody in the nineteenth century. In this case, a mother petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus after placing one of her children with a charitable organization to receive medical care and custody of the child was eventually given to a married couple. Before a court order was made in the case, the mother abducted the child from the married couple's home. Custody of the child was awarded by the court to the married couple.
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| Amending Indian Appropriation Act of 1892 |
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This excerpted report from the Committee of Public Lands asserted that dispossessed treaty lands and former military reservations should be closer in price per acre to lands distributed under the Homestead Act.
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| An Act For the removal of restrictions from part of the lands of allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes, and for other purposes |
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This congressional act established Oklahoma county probate courts as the main arbiters of land held by allottees of the Five Tribes. In particular, minors, incompetents, and deceased members of the Five Tribes were targeted for guardian interventions in the probate courts.
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| An Act in Relation to Female Suffrage |
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This act in Washington Territory specifically denied women the right to vote. Women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment, nearly 50 years later.
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| An Act Relating to Woman Suffrage |
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This act proposed to amend the Constitution of Washington State to grant women suffrage rights. Washington was one of 12 states to grant women the right to vote prior to the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
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| An Act to Adopt the Negroes of the Chickasaw Nation |
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This tribal law, which was adopted by the Chickasaw Nation on January 10, 1873, called for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as citizens of the Chickasaw Nation. The law included three primary stipulations for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as tribal citizens: first, that Chickasaw Freedmen be excluded from any financial interests in the $300,000 the tribe would receive and any other tribal invested funds or claims; second, that despite these exclusions from monetary benefits, Chickasaw Freedmen be considered fully subject to the "jurisdiction and laws" of the Chickasaw Nation; and third, that the law would go into effect after being approved "by the proper authority of the United States." The law would not be approved by the U.S. Congress until 1894.
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| An Act to Grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the Right of Suffrage and to Hold Office |
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Wyoming was the first state to grant women suffrage rights. This act was the first in the world to grant women the right to vote and access to holding public office. It came 50 years before the 19th Amendment that guaranteed women's suffrage to the entire United States. Wyoming was the first of 15 states to grant women suffrage rights prior to the passage of the 19th Amendment.
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| An Act To provide for the appointment of additional judges of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes |
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This excerpted congressional act reorganized the federal court system in Indian Territory. The establishment of United States courts worked to undermine tribal judicial systems by asserting broad federal authority over regional criminal and civil disputes.
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| Angell Treaty |
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The Angell Treaty of 1880 amended the Burlingame Treaty of 1868 and sought to regulate, limit, and suspend the arrival of Chinese laborers to the United States. Article Three of the treaty established a clause stating that Chinese subjects experiencing violence and mistreatment on U.S. soil should be entitled to protection by the U.S. government.
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| Arkansas Declaration of Rights |
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This excerpt from the Declaration of Rights in the 1874 (and current) Arkansas State Constitution contains the language prohibiting the distinction between resident aliens and citizens in regard to property.
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| Burke Act |
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The Burke Act amended Section 6 of the Dawes Act to explicitly add competency as a legal marker for allottees, tying settler-colonial judgements of social and cultural behavior to land holding.
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| Burlingame-Seward Treaty |
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In the wake of the Second Opium War (1865-60), United States Secretary of State William Seward and the U.S. Minister to China Anson Burlingame negotiated what became known as the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The treaty established trade ports for the U.S. in China, opened Chinese consuls in the U.S., and permitted the free immigration and travel of Chinese immigrants to the United States under the "the most-favored nation principle."
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| Cherokee Allotment Act |
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Excerpts from this congressional act brought the Cherokee Nation into the federal process of allotment and gave the Dawes Commission exclusive jurisdiction over legal conflicts related to allotment.
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| Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 |
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The Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, with exceptions granted for merchants, students, or diplomats.
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| Civil Rights Act of 1875 |
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The Civil Rights Act of 1875 is a Reconstruction Era law enacted to protect the civil rights of freed Black people. It explicitly protected the ability to use transportation and allowed Black people to serve on juries. The law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883 when they ruled that the 14th Amendment only had the power to regulate states, not individuals.
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| Civil Rights Cases |
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These cases saw the Supreme Court push back on constitutional equal protection and the 1875 Civil Rights Act. The ruling held that the 13th Amendment "merely" abolished slavery and that the 14th Amendment did not apply to the racist acts of private individuals. The decision in these cases led to the increased segregation of Black people in all facets of public and private life.
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| Clark v. Board of School Directors |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of students based on race was unconstitutional. It was the first and only 19th century court to overturn school segregation.
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| Coger v. The North Western Union Packet Co. |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a steamboat company's removal of a Black woman from its dining table violated her constitutional right of equality under Iowa's constitution, relying heavily on the Court's earlier decision in Clark v. Board of School Directors. This case came nearly 100 years before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States that upheld Title II of the newly passed Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations.
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| Commonwealth of Virginia v. Quander |
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Newspaper coverage from the Alexandria Gazette in 1874, reporting on the court cases of Felix and Julia Quander. The married couple were charged with resisting the efforts of Fairfax County constables executing a warrant for the seizure of cattle belonging to the Quanders. Felix, Julia, and their four children were all arrested, brought before a justice, and bailed for further examination. Two months later, Felix and Julia's cases were brought before the Fairfax County Court, where Julia was found not guilty of assault and battery, and Felix was fined $10.
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| Comstock Act |
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The Comstock Act restricted obscene material, contraceptives, and abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail. The act was named for Anthony Comstock, a member of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and a postal inspector. This act was passed during a time when healthcare was shifting from a woman's responsibility to a professional man's responsibility.
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| Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom (1887) |
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Known as the Bayonet Constitution, King Kalākaua was made to sign the document under the threat of violence by an armed militia backed by a secret society which aimed to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Constitution placed significant limitations on the power of the monarchy and stripped Native Hawaiians of rights in favor of white non-citizens.
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| Creek Allotment Act |
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This excerpted congressional act brought the Muscogee (Creek) Nation into the federal process of allotment.
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| Creek Supplemental Agreement |
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Excerpts from this supplement to the Creek Agreement of 1901 renegotiated many legal issues related to allotment, including citizenship, leases, and inheritance. In particular, section six voided Creek law over land, descent, and distribution, and replaced it with Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
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