 Aspisa v. Hardage Lane (1837) |
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In this freedom suit, Aspisa sued for her freedom, arguing that her mother's residence in the free Northwest Territory before being taken to St. Louis where Aspisa was born entitled her to her freedom. Aspisa had filed previously against former enslavers including Joseph Rosati, the first Bishop of Saint Louis. A jury decided in favor of Aspisa's freedom in 1839, however, in a subsequent trial, the court determined her status was enslaved.
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| Boston Port Act (1774) |
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One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act closed Boston harbor to all commerce until the city paid for the tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Port Act attempted to subdue Boston’s revolutionary residents. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
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| Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) |
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Later overturned by Lawrence v. Texas, this Supreme Court case ruled that the 14th Amendment did not prevent states from prohibiting sexual relations between same-sex couples.
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| Brown v. Board of Education (1954) |
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The Supreme Court found in Brown v. Board of Education that educational segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This landmark case overturned the precedent created by the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, and ended the Jim Crow era.
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| Burke Act (1906) |
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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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| Charles Mahoney v. John Ashton (1791) |
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This freedom suit was based on the claim that the petitioner was descended from a free Black woman who was an indentured servant when she arrived in colonial Maryland from England. Mahoney's attorneys invoked the Somerset principle, 18th century British case law, and even the Declaration of Independence to secure his freedom, but after three jury trials, Mahoney remained enslaved.
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| Charlotte Dupee, Charles, & Mary Ann v. Henry Clay (1829) |
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In this freedom suit, Charlotte Dupee sought to claim freedom for herself and her children from Henry Clay, the outgoing Secretary of State and leading Whig Senator from Kentucky. While the courts did find in her favor, Charlotte continued to resist her enslavement until she and her daughter Mary Ann were ultimately manumitted 1840.
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| Charter of Georgia (1732) |
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The charter of Georgia sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Georgia was founded as a place to relocate debtors of London to give them a chance to make a living and pay back their debts. The colony’s location buffered profitable South Carolina from the Spanish Colonies and Native Americans in Florida and beyond. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. Colonial charters provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. The Charter of Georgia limited the amount of land individuals could own because of its goals to relocate the poor.
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| Charter of Virginia (1606) |
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The first charter of the U.S. colonies established the precedent for the ways future colonies were chartered.
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| Cherokee Allotment Act (1902) |
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This 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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| Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia (1831) |
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This landmark Supreme Court case in Federal Indian Law introduced the concept of domestic dependent nations. In this case, the Cherokee Nation sued the state of Georgia in an attempt to prevent the enforcement of laws that stripped the Cherokee of their rights and land. The Court ruled that as the Cherokee Nation was a "domestic dependent nation" not a foreign nation, they did not have the legal standing to bring the case to court.
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| Cherokee Removal Order (1838) |
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This broadside details the United States Army orders to force Cherokees from their home districts in Tennessee during removal.
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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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| Code Noir (1687) |
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A set of laws in French colonies that regulated the lives of enslaved and free black people. The code primarily defined slavery, but it also expelled all Jewish people from French colonies and required Black people to be Catholic and not protestant. The Code Noir demonstrates the way enslaved people's lives were regulated under French colonial rule.
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| Commonwealth of Virginia v. Quander (1874) |
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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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| Constitution of the United States of America (1787) |
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The Constitution of the United States of America outlines the structure of the United States Government. This document is the foundation of United States' laws. Article 1 provides directions for the legislative branch and the basic differences between the two legislative bodies. Article 2 outlines the role of the Executive Branch of government, led by the President. The document gives significant power to the legislative branch and limits the power of the executive. Article 3 organizes the Judicial Branch and gives it the authority to keep the other branches adherent to the Constitution. Article 4 provides description on the interaction between states and the federal government. The Constitution provides minimal guidance for each branch of government, but also provides methods to amend it.
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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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| 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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| Debt Recovery Act (1732) |
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The Debt Recovery Act of 1732 was a British law that allowed enslaved people to be used as collateral for loans. This sharply contrasted the Spanish colonial policy that prevented enslaved people from being used as collateral.
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| Declaration of Independence (1776) |
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The Declaration of Independence formally announced the separation of the 13 United States from the United Kingdom. The document lists the reasons members of the second Continental Congress believed they should no longer be under British colonial rule.
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| Defining Race & Lifelong Servitude in the Colonial Americas |
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This module links Spanish colonial documents from the turn of the sixteenth century to British colonial innovations in the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries, demonstrating how European colonists developed a racialized hierarchy that justified the widespread enslavement of Africans and their descendants.
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| Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) |
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In the ruling it this case, the Supreme Court took away the constitutional right to abortion based on the right to privacy recognized by Roe v. Wade. This was the first time a Supreme Court decision took away a fundamental right from the people.
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| Doe v. Bolton (1973) |
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A Supreme Court case decided at the same time as Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton ruled that a Georgia abortion law limiting access to abortions to cases of rape, fetal deformity, or extreme injury to the mother was unconstitutional.
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