 Abortion deemed manslaughter in the second degree (N. Y. Rev. Stat. 1830) |
|
The New York state statute regarding abortion reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century.
|
| Administration of Justice Act |
|
One of the Intolerable Acts, the Administration of Justice Act was known as the Murder Act by colonists. The Administration of Justice Act allowed the Governor to remove any acquisition placed on a royal official if the governor did not believe the official would receive a fair trial. Colonists referred to this act as the Murder Act because they believed it would allow royal officials to get away with murder. The Intolerable, or Coercive, Acts were passed as a reaction to the Boston Tea party to reduce the rights of Massachusetts colonists and strengthen royal control over the colony. 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.
|
| An Act Concerning Slaves and Servants |
|
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.
|
| An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery |
|
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.
|
| An Act Further to Protect Personal Liberty |
|
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."
|
| An Act Relative to Slaves and Servants |
|
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.
|
| An Act to Prevent Kidnapping |
|
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."
|
| Articles of Confederation |
|
The first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation, were only in place for eight years due to the limited power granted to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the current constitution in 1789.
|
| Boston Port Act |
|
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.
|
 Broadside Reacting to the Fugitive Slave Act |
|
This broadside was distributed in Boston following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
|
| Brown v. Board of Education |
|
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.
|
| Charter of Delaware |
|
The charter for the colony of Delaware guarantees the residents of the colony “freedom of their consciences” as well as religious freedom, stating that if these are abridged no man can be truly happy. It also sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. These documents provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. The Delaware charter also provides limits on the governor’s powers including setting up the terms for impeachment.
|
| Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations |
|
The charter for the colony of Rhode Island specifically guarantees religious and civil freedom. It also sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. These documents provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. Rhode Island was among the first states to end slavery in 1787, and this document is a precursor that emphasizes civil liberties. The charter’s emphasis on religious freedom meant that many religious dissenters settled there.
|
| Civil Rights Cases |
|
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.
|
| Code Noir |
|
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.
|
| Constitution of the United States of America |
|
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.
|
| Debt Recovery Act |
|
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.
|
| Declaration of Independence |
|
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.
|
| Defining Race & Lifelong Servitude in the Colonial Americas |
|
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.
|
| Emmanuel Downing to John Winthrop |
|
Downing's letter to Winthrop shows changing colonial attitudes to race and practices of enslavement.
|
| Equal Protection, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the 14th Amendment |
|
This teaching module discusses the 14th Amendment and the implications of equal protection under the law, featuring a webinar with Kate Masur, author of the 2021 book, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction.
|
| Estimate of Property Loss Sustained by the Chinese in their respective camps at Rock Springs |
|
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.
|
| Gradual Abolition Laws, Race, and Freedom in the Early Republic |
|
This module highlights the complexities of gradual abolition legislation in the Early Republic, focusing on a lawsuit to reestablish the freedom of an African American teenager from New York City named John Johnson. Johnson's experience demonstrates the new opportunities and distinct challenges that gradual abolition laws created for African Americans.
|
| Griswold v. Connecticut |
|
In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court found that medical privacy was constitutionally protected regarding reproductive decisions. The Griswold decision helped set precedent for the decision in Roe v. Wade.
|
| In re Halladjian et al. |
|
In this case, a Massachusetts circuit court ruled that people from West Asia were so intermixed with Europeans that the Armenian plaintiffs should be considered white and admitted to U.S. citizenship.
|