 An Act to provide for designation by cities and towns of segregation districts for residence of white and colored persons (1912) |
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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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| An Act To provide for the appointment of additional judges of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes (1895) |
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This act reorganized the federal court system in Indian Territory. The establishment of United States courts worked to undermine tribal judicial systems by asserting broad federal authority over regional criminal and civil disputes.
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| Angell Treaty (1880) |
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The Angell Treaty of 1880 amended the Burlingame Treaty of 1868 and sought to regulate, limit, and suspend the arrival of Chinese laborers to the United States. Article Three of the treaty established a clause stating that Chinese subjects experiencing violence and mistreatment on U.S. soil should be entitled to protection by the U.S. government.
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| Ann v. Henry Hight (1816) |
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Ann was a Black woman indentured by a man who took her from Maryland to Illinois and finally into Missouri, contrary to an Illinois law that required the consent of the servant if they were taken beyond the state's borders. Upon her employer's death, the executor of his estate, Henry Hight, claimed her as a slave for life. Ann petitioned for her freedom in a Missouri court and won.
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| Ann Williams, Ann Maria Williams, Tobias Williams, & John Williams v. George Miller & George Miller Jr. (1832) |
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In this successful freedom suit, a mother petitioned for her freedom and that of her three children. While her claim for freedom was not recorded in the documents filed with the court, it was likely on the basis of Maryland's ban on the importation of enslaved people for the purpose of being sold. Ann Williams had been brought into the District of Columbia in 1815 to be sold south to Georgia. In response to the impending sale, 24 year old Ann leapt from the attic of the three-story tavern owned by George Miller. Her arms and back were broken in the fall, and she was purchased by the tavern keeper for $5. The jury in her case rendered a verdict for her freedom and that of her children.
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| Arch v. Barnabas Harris (1818) |
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This freedom suit illustrates how enslaved people presented a fundamental issue in the legal system. The central question in Arch's case was a question between personal liberty, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, versus a right to personal property, also enshrined in the Declaration.
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| Arkansas Declaration of Rights (1874) |
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This excerpt from the Declaration of Rights in the 1874 (and current) Arkansas State Constitution contains the language prohibiting the distinction between resident aliens and citizens in regard to property.
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| 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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 Broadside Reacting to the Fugitive Slave Act (1851) |
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This broadside was distributed in Boston following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
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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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| Burlingame-Seward Treaty (1886) |
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In the wake of the Second Opium War (1865-60), United States Secretary of State William Seward and the U.S. Minister to China Anson Burlingame negotiated what became known as the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The treaty established trade ports for the U.S. in China, opened Chinese consuls in the U.S., and permitted the free immigration and travel of Chinese immigrants to the United States under the "the most-favored nation principle."
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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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| 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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| Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 |
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The Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, with exceptions granted for merchants, students, or diplomats.
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| Civil Rights Act of 1875 |
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The Civil Rights Act of 1875 is a Reconstruction Era law enacted to protect the civil rights of freed Black people. It explicitly protected the ability to use transportation and allowed Black people to serve on juries. The law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883 when they ruled that the 14th Amendment only had the power to regulate states, not individuals.
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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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| Clark v. Board of School Directors (1868) |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of students based on race was unconstitutional. It was the first and only 19th century court to overturn school segregation.
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| Coger v. The North Western Union Packet Co. (1873) |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a steamboat company's removal of a Black woman from its dining table violated her constitutional right of equality under Iowa's constitution, relying heavily on the Court's earlier decision in Clark v. Board of School Directors. This case came nearly 100 years before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States that upheld Title II of the newly passed Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations.
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| Comstock Act (1873) |
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The Comstock Act restricted obscene material, contraceptives, and abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail. The act was named for Anthony Comstock, a member of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and a postal inspector. This act was passed during a time when healthcare was shifting from a woman's responsibility to a professional man's responsibility.
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| Constitution of Oregon (1859) |
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Oregon became a state with a Black exclusion law in its constitution. Drafted in 1857 by delegates at a territorial convention, several sections of the constitution reflect Oregon voters' goal of creating a white-only state.
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| Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom (1840) |
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In this constitution, King Kamehameha III relinquished his absolute powers as ruler and established the equality of his subjects before the law.
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| Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom (1887) |
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Known as the Bayonet Constitution, King Kalākaua was made to sign the document under the threat of violence by an armed militia backed by a secret society which aimed to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Constitution placed significant limitations on the power of the monarchy and stripped Native Hawaiians of rights in favor of white non-citizens.
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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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