 Curtis Act |
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These excerpts from the Curtis Act show 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 |
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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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| Defense of Marriage Act |
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The Defense of Marriage Act defined marriage federally as between a man and a woman, and allowed each state to recognize marriage based on its own definition. As a result, same-sex marriages granted under the laws of some states were not recognized by others.
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| Displaced Persons Act |
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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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| Duro-Fix |
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This amendment to the Indian Civil Rights Act was designed to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling in Duro v. Reina. It reinstated the power of Native American tribes to exercise criminal misdemeanor jurisdiction over all Indians.
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| Enforcement Act of 1870 |
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The Enforcement Act of 1870 was enacted to enforce the 15th Amendment during Reconstruction. It explicitly prohibited the use of terror, force, or disguise to violate a voter's constitutional right. This law was intended to protect the voting rights of Black Americans and penalize state officials and violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan who interfered.
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| Enforcement Act of 1871 |
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The Enforcement Act of 1871 revised the Enforcement Act of 1870 to further protect Black Americans' right to vote and hold office. It added more severe punishments to those who violated the constitutional rights of Black Americans. This act specifically called for federal oversight of national elections and empowered federal judges and marshals to supervise local polling places.
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| Equal Credit Opportunity Act |
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This act prohibited discrimination in credit transactions and lending practices based on sex and marital status. It was amended in 1976 to include other characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, religion, and use of any public assistance program. Before the law was enacted, lenders and the federal government frequently and explicitly discriminated against female loan applicants.
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| Expatriation Act |
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The Expatriation Act was a federal law that rescinded United States citizenship for American women that married foreigners.
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| Foraker Act |
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The Foraker Act established the civil government of Puerto Rico, transitioning it away from martial rule. The Foraker Act established Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory, making it ineligible for statehood. This act did not allow residents of Puerto Rico to be United States Citizens.
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| Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 |
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 gave power to Article IV Section 2 Clause 3 of the Constitution that stated slave owners were allowed to recover escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act required anyone who found a fugitive to return them, across state lines to the slave owner. It put fugitive slaves at risk of recapture for the rest of their lives. This fugitive slave policy was later superseded by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
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| Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 |
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a part of the Compromise of 1850. The act addressed weaknesses in previous fugitive slave acts by penalizing officials who did not aid in returning escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 rendered Habeas Corpus irrelevant.
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| Habeas Corpus Act |
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The Habeas Corpus Act of 1867 expanded the authority of federal courts to issue writs of habeas corpus. It was passed largely in response to the resistance to civil rights for Black Americans after the Civil War, and allowed suits to be removed from state courts to lower federal courts for trial, as well as allowed for petitions for a writ of habeas corpus from federal courts if rights under the U.S. Constitution or any law or treaty were being violated.
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| Hyde Amendment |
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The Hyde Amendment, first appearing as part of an appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, and Health, Education, and Welfare, prevents federal funds from being spent on abortion care. Versions of the Hyde Amendment continue to be adopted by Congress each year, though exceptions have been added to allow for the termination of pregnancies that result from rape or incest or that endanger the life of the mother.
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| Immigration Act of 1891 |
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The Immigration Act of 1891 gave the Federal Government direct control over assessing and processing immigrants into the United States. It prohibited polygamists, people convicted of "crimes of moral turpitude," and people with certain diseases from entering the U.S. The act also created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department to regulate immigration.
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| Immigration Act of 1917 |
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The 1917 Immigration Act was a federal law that created the Asiatic barred zone, prohibiting immigration from Asian nations.
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| Immigration Act of 1924 |
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Also known as the Johnson–Reed Act, this federal law set quotas on the number of immigrants from every country outside Latin America and barred immigration from Asia entirely.
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| Immigration and Nationality Act |
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The Immigration and Nationality Act amended the 1924 Immigration Act, functionally repealing the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This act started the categorization of refugees, but continued the U.S. pattern of defining refugees by geography or politics, and not adopting United Nations terminology.
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| Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 |
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The United States Congress passed several laws that ended treaty-making with Native American nations, eroding tribal sovereignty. This 1871 act stated that Native nations were no longer considered or recognized by the federal government as independent nations.
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| Indian Appropriations Act of 1893 |
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Excerpts from the 1893 appropriations act show funding for a range of federal projects on tribal lands in the late nineteenth century. Monies were allocated toward payroll for agents, interpreters, surveyors, and boarding school superintendents, as well as traveling and various expenses for same; treaty stipulations and material support on reservations and treaty lands; boarding schools; and distribution on interest of trust fund stocks. The act shows key federal interventions in the establishment of institutions, as well as the commission later entitled the Dawes Commission.
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| Indian Appropriations Act of 1902 |
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Referred to as the "Dead Indian Act," excerpts from this congressional act show how privilege was given to guardians with the power to sell allotted land of minor heirs of deceased tribal citizens. The act also established a new federal judicial district in Indian Territory.
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| Indian Appropriations Act of 1904 |
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Excerpts from this congressional act show the allocation of funds for a wide variety of expenditures on Native lands including boarding schools, asylums, payroll, transportation, warehouses, police, judges, and medical supplies, and called for the liquidation of tribal land not already allotted to tribal citizens. It also removed alienation restrictions for some allottees on a case-by-case basis.
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| Indian Child Welfare Act |
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An Act intended "to protect the best interests of Indian Children," the Indian Child Welfare Act supports tribal sovereignty and tribal involvement in the welfare of its children. The Indian Child Welfare Act was upheld in the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Haaland v. Brackeen.
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| Indian Citizenship Act |
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The Indian Citizenship Act granted automatic United States citizenship to all Native American people while allowing them to maintain their tribal citizenship.
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| Indian Civil Rights Act |
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The Indian Civil Rights Act ensured that constitutional rights were extended to Native Americans while also ensuring tribal sovereignty.
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