 United States v. Rogers (1846) |
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In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that a white man who claimed citizenship of the Cherokee Nation through domicile and marriage was not an "Indian" within the meaning of the law.
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| United States v. The Amistad (1841) |
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This freedom suit originated after 53 Africans revolted and took control of the Spanish slave ship that intended to enslave them in Cuba. The ship was eventually seized by the U.S. Navy off the coast of Long Island and the Africans were taken into custody and charged with mutiny and murder. After a series of court appearances, the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans were "free negroes" who had been "unlawfully kidnapped, and forcibly and wrongfully carried on board" the Amistad. They were ordered to be released. After obtaining their freedom, missionary groups helped the surviving Africans return to Sierra Leone.
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 Walnut Street Prison (1789) |
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An etching of the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia. Established as a city jail in 1773, it was expanded in 1790 to become the first state penitentiary in the new country. This prison was among the first to feature individual cells and was built to accommodate work details. The penitentiary was noted to have a larger percentage of Black inmates than white, noting the racialization of incarceration in the United States. The prison was in operation until 1838.
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| Webinar - Equal Protection, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the 14th Amendment (2023) |
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In this webinar, Dr. Kate Masur of Northwestern University discusses the 14th Amendment and the implications of equal protection under the law with Dr. Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir of Xavier University and Dr. William Thomas and his American Constitutional History class.
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| Webinar - U.S. Constitutionalism and Native American Sovereignty (2023) |
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In this webinar, Professor Ned Blackhawk of Yale University discusses his recent book The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, which argues for the centrality of Native people and their nations throughout American history from the colonial era to the present, as well as tribal sovereignty and federal Indian law in the United States.
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| Winny v. Phebe Whitesides alias Prewitt (1824) |
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This case was the first freedom suit heard by the Missouri Supreme Court. Winny claimed her freedom on account of being brought into the free territory of what would become Illinois before being removed to Missouri. The court found in favor of her freedom, establishing a "once free, always free" precedent that was eventually overturned by the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
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