 Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned discrimination in employment. The act reflected over a century of political and legal activism.
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| Civil Rights Cases (1883) |
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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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| Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 (1942) |
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This broadside detailed U. S. Army orders to force all persons of Japanese ancestry, whether citizens or non-citizens, to depart Alameda County, California, and report to an assembly center where they would be sent to concentration camps. Fred Korematsu defied this exclusion order by remaining at his residence and was eventually convicted in federal court.
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| Constitution And By-Laws of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Missouri (1937) |
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As part of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Native American tribes were encouraged to create tribal governments that mirrored the United States government. Many of the tribes' constitutions were essentially the same.
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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 (1901) |
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This act brought the Muscogee (Creek) Nation into the federal process of allotment.
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| Creek Supplemental Agreement (1902) |
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This supplement to the Creek Agreement of 1901 renegotiated many legal issues related to allotment, including citizenship, leases, and inheritance. In particular, section 6 voided Creek law over land, descent, and distribution, and replaced it with Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
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| Criminal Docket, Sweetwater County Rock Springs Precinct, September 1885 |
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A Coroner’s Inquest investigated the murders of Chinese mine workers in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, in September 1885. While 16 white miners were arrested for participation in the massacre, no one was ever held legally responsible.
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| Curtis Act (1898) |
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The Curtis Act shows federal land dispossession in Indian Territory through settler colonial judicial and administrative practices. The act dissolved regional tribal courts, voided tribal laws, and reorganized jurisdiction in Indian Territory.
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| Dawes Act (1887) |
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This classic document in Native American legal history formalized the process of federal land dispossession. Section 6 made claims to the adoption of civilized life as a necessary precursor to Indigenous participation in allotment.
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| De Lima v. Bidwell (1901) |
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De Lima v. Bidwell is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. This case considered whether the newly acquired territory of Puerto Rico was a "foreign country" and to what extent shipping duties applied to imports from Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. De Lima ruled that Puerto Rico was a part of the United States and duties should not be applied to imports. This case was decided on different grounds than that of Downes v. Bidwell, which ruled that unincorporated territories could be treated differently than states and incorporated territories.
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| Displaced Persons Act (1948) |
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The first U.S. policy regarding refugees, the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 only allowed for European people displaced by World War II to enter the United States as refugees. Despite the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights providing broad definitions for refugees, the United States continued to use narrow geographically or politically specific definitions for refugees until 1980.
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| Dorr v. United States (1904) |
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Dorr v. United States is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. The court in Dorr ruled that residents of the Philippines were not entitled to a trial by jury. The case of Balzac v. Porto Rico decided the same in Puerto Rico.
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| Dow v. United States (1915) |
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In Dow v. United States, the Court of Appeals ruled that people from Southwest Asia could be considered white and were eligible for citizenship. This decision came seven years before the Supreme Court ruled that migrants from Japan and India were not white enough to be eligible for citizenship.
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| Downes v. Bidwell (1901) |
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Downes v. Bidwell is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. This case considered whether the Constitution applied to territories, specifically Puerto Rico. It specifically considered the constitutionality of the Foraker Act which levied customs on exports from Puerto Rico. The Court ruled that the Constitution only fully applied to incorporated territories, while Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory.
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| Elective Franchise and Qualifications for Office (1887) |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1887 places few restrictions on voting. Compare it to the act of 1902, which added literary and property ownership requirements meant to disenfranchise African Americans, resulting in entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
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| Elective Franchise and Qualifications for Office (1902) |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1902 contains literary and property ownership requirements for potential voters in an attempt to disenfranchise African Americans. Compare it to the 1887 act which placed few restrictions on voting. Application of statutes such as this one resulted in entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
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| Elk v. Wilkins (1884) |
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In Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court denied United States citizenship to Native Americans. Newspapers at the time identified John Elk as Winnebago, however, he had renounced his tribal allegiance and resided off-reservation in Omaha, Nebraska. Elk brought his case before the court when he attempted to register to vote and was denied. He claimed birthright citizenship as defined by the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case was heard before both Circuit and District judges, and when they could not agree on a ruling, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that despite severing tribal ties and living amongst white citizens, Elk could not claim birthright citizenship.
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| Estimate of Property Loss Sustained by the Chinese in their respective camps at Rock Springs (1885) |
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In the wake of the 1885 Rock Springs Massacre, a U.S.- Chinese commission made up of politicians, ambassadors, and diplomats arrived in Wyoming Territory to collect testimony and tally the loss of property among Chinese laborers. The property lists accounted for individual property ownership, as well as property held in common by the Chinese miners.
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| Ex Parte Crow Dog (1883) |
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Ex Parte Crow Dog was a Supreme Court case that asserted the federal government's role in criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The Court held that the federal government did not have jurisdiction over crimes committed by Native peoples against one another on tribal land. The Court's decision in this case affirmed tribal sovereignty, leading to the passage of the Indian Major Crimes Act two years later, which brought certain crimes committed on tribal lands under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
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| Executive Order 10450 - Security Requirements for Government Employment (1953) |
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A part of the Lavender Scare, President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Executive Order 10450 banned members of the LGBTQ+ community from being employed by the federal government.
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| Executive Order 10925 - Establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (1961) |
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This executive order by President John F. Kennedy directed government contractors to use affirmative action to ensure people of any "race, creed, color, or national origin" were given equal treatment and opportunity for employment. This executive order also established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.
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| Executive Order 11246 - Equal Employment Opportunity (1965) |
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This executive order by President Lyndon B. Johnson created equal opportunity for federal employment and contracts, ending discrimination on race, creed, color, or national origin.
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| Executive Order 11246 - Equal Employment Opportunity (1965) |
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This executive order enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson was repealed by a January 2025 executive order from Donald Trump. The original order was written to ensure equal opportunity in government employment and limit discrimination based on race. It required employers to furnish documentation of nondiscriminatory practices upon request.
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| Executive Order 9066 - Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas (1942) |
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This executive order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a federal law that forcefully removed persons deemed a national security threat to relocation centers in the western United States. While the act did not include racialized language, it was created with the intent to target Japanese Americans.
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