 Abortion deemed manslaughter in the second degree (N. Y. Rev. Stat. 1830) |
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The New York state statute regarding abortion reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century.
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| Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia Colony |
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Between 1639 and 1691, Virginia Colony established a series of statutes that increasingly limited the rights of Indigenous and Black residents while expanding the rights of Europeans. These acts reflect the increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| An act concerning Servants and Slaves |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| An Act Concerning Slaves and Servants |
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This act was one of several passed by the New York State Legislature relating to the gradual abolition of slavery. It details conditions for manumission and reiterates that any child born to an enslaved woman after July 4, 1799 would be born free, and establishes rules for the care of freedmen.
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| An act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves within this dominion, to be real estate |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery |
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This act was the first of several passed by the New York State Legislature relating to the gradual abolition of slavery. It declared that any child born to an enslaved woman after July 4, 1799 would be born free, provided that the child serve the enslaver of his or her mother until they reach the age of twenty-eight years and twenty-five years respectively.
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| An Act Further to Protect Personal Liberty |
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This Massachusetts personal liberty law aimed to counteract the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 by forbidding state-level judges and law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining any person "for the reason that he is claimed as a fugitive slave."
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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 Relative to Slaves and Servants |
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This act was the last of several passed by the New York State Legislature relating to the gradual abolition of slavery. It set July 4, 1827, as the date of emancipation for enslaved people in the state who had been born before July 4, 1799.
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| An Act respecting slaves, free negroes and mulattoes |
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This Missouri law is one of the Black Codes designed to ensure white supremacy prior to the Civil War, limiting literacy and assembly for enslaved people as well as preventing interstate travel for free Black people.
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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 Amend "An Act Relative to Crime and Punishment" |
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The Indiana state statute regarding abortion reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century. This law punished individuals for helping pregnant women obtain a miscarriage.
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| An Act to enable persons held in slavery, to sue for their freedom |
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This territorial statute presented an opportunity for enslaved people to sue for their freedom in Louisiana Territory courts. It also specified how petitioners were to be treated by defendants while the freedom suit was being heard.
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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 Prevent Kidnapping |
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This act is Pennsylvania's first personal liberty law. It was written to counteract the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and preserve the ability of free Black people to live in Pennsylvania. The act made kidnapping any Black person a felony punishable by large fines and lengthy imprisonment. It also fined any state official that took cognizance of the case of "any fugitive from labor."
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| An Act to Prevent the Immigration of Free Negroes into this State |
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This Illinois law was prohibited African Americans from moving into the state. Part of the series of laws known as Black Codes, this law and others like it intended to ensure racial inequality prior to the Civil War. Black people who resided in the state for longer than ten days could face arrest, fines, and sale by auction. Any white citizen who reported their presence was given half of the fine paid by the Black person.
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| An Act to provide for designation by cities and towns of segregation districts for residence of white and colored persons |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected race-neutral language of the legal code after the Civil War. Application of these statutes resulted in entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
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| Arkansas Alien Land Act |
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This act was passed by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1925 to restrict the ability of aliens ineligible for citizenship to acquire, possess, enjoy, use, cultivate, occupy, and transfer real property, or any interest therein," unless specified in treaties.
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| Elective Franchise and Qualifications for Office (1887) |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected race-neutral language of the legal code after the Civil War. Application of these statutes resulted in entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
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| Elective Franchise and Qualifications for Office (1902) |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected race-neutral language of the legal code after the Civil War. Application of these statutes resulted in entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
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| Maryland Toleration Act |
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The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as “An Act Concerning Religion,” was the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance. It aimed to protect Christians from discrimination and protected the practice of Christian religion in the colony of Maryland. The Act also states that cursing God or blasphemy are punishable by death. This act protects religion for Christian denominations but still punishes those who are non-religious or not Christian.
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| Massachusetts Body of Liberties |
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The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code formed in the New England colonies. It established individual rights and protections that would later influence the U.S. Bill of Rights.
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| Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act |
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Passed in reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act was among laws passed by Northern states in an attempt to protect Black residents from unwarranted arrest.
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| Miscarriage (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1867) |
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The Illinois state statute regarding miscarriage reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century.
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