 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 |
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This excerpted congressional act brought the Muscogee (Creek) Nation into the federal process of allotment.
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| Creek Supplemental Agreement |
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Excerpts from this supplement to the Creek Agreement of 1901 renegotiated many legal issues related to allotment, including citizenship, leases, and inheritance. In particular, section six voided Creek law over land, descent, and distribution, and replaced it with Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
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| Criminal Docket, Sweetwater County Rock Springs Precinct, September 1885 |
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A Coroner’s Inquest investigated the murders of Chinese mine workers in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, in September 1885. While 16 white miners were arrested for participation in the massacre, no one was ever held legally responsible.
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| Curtis Act |
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These excerpts from the Curtis Act show 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 |
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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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| De Lima v. Bidwell |
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De Lima v. Bidwell is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. This case considered whether the newly acquired territory of Puerto Rico was a "foreign country" and to what extent shipping duties applied to imports from Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. De Lima ruled that Puerto Rico was a part of the United States and duties should not be applied to imports. This case was decided on different grounds than that of Downes v. Bidwell, which ruled that unincorporated territories could be treated differently than states and incorporated territories.
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| Dorr v. United States |
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Dorr v. United States is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. The court in Dorr ruled that residents of the Philippines were not entitled to a trial by jury. The case of Balzac v. Porto Rico decided the same in Puerto Rico.
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| Dow v. United States |
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In Dow v. United States, the Court of Appeals ruled that people from Southwest Asia could be considered white and were eligible for citizenship. This decision came seven years before the Supreme Court ruled that migrants from Japan and India were not white enough to be eligible for citizenship.
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| Downes v. Bidwell |
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Downes v. Bidwell is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. This case considered whether the Constitution applied to territories, specifically Puerto Rico. It specifically considered the constitutionality of the Foraker Act which levied customs on exports from Puerto Rico. The Court ruled that the Constitution only fully applied to incorporated territories, while Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory.
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| Dred Scott v. Sandford |
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Dred Scott was owned by Dr. John Emerson. Emerson took Scott into Wisconsin, a free state. While living in a free territory, Scott got married and had children, believing he and his family were free. He was later taken back to Missouri where he sued for his freedom. The case ultimately decided that black people could not sue in federal court, and Justice Robert B. Taney said that black people were never meant to be included in the body politic. Dred Scott was later central to the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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| Edward Gantt v. Thomas Baldwin |
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This case centers on the whereabouts of a mixed race woman named Fanny who was enslaved by Edward Gantt. Gantt claimed that while aboard a steamboat captained by Thomas Baldwin, Fanny went missing. Gantt brought an action in trover against Baldwin to recover the monetary value of Fanny, $1,500. Witnesses deposed on behalf of Baldwin claimed that no such woman was ever on board, and also described the people of color who worked on the boat as well as those enslaved by passengers.
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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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| Elihu Schooner v. State of Missouri |
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When Elihu Schooner was arrested as a fugitive from slavery, he petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus. Born free in Ohio, upon hearing the facts of the case, Schooner was released by the court.
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| Elizabeth Bird v. Frances Pattmore |
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The habeas corpus petition of Elizabeth Bird shows legal challenges related to child custody in the nineteenth century. In this case, Bird argued that she was made the legal guardian of Missouri Bird, a ten year old child, by the child's mother, and claimed that Missouri was being confined to the house of Frances Pattmore. Pattmore responded that Missouri's presence in her house was of her own free will. The court awarded custody of Missouri to Pattmore.
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| Elk v. Wilkins |
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In Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court denied United States citizenship to Native Americans.
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| Enforcement Act of 1870 |
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The Enforcement Act of 1870 was enacted to enforce the 15th Amendment during Reconstruction. It explicitly prohibited the use of terror, force, or disguise to violate a voter's constitutional right. This law was intended to protect the voting rights of Black Americans and penalize state officials and violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan who interfered.
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| Enforcement Act of 1871 |
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The Enforcement Act of 1871 revised the Enforcement Act of 1870 to further protect Black Americans' right to vote and hold office. It added more severe punishments to those who violated the constitutional rights of Black Americans. This act specifically called for federal oversight of national elections and empowered federal judges and marshals to supervise local polling places.
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| Equal Protection, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the 14th Amendment |
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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.
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| Estimate of Property Loss Sustained by the Chinese in their respective camps at Rock Springs |
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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.
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| Ex Parte Crow Dog |
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Ex Parte Crow Dog was a Supreme Court case that asserted the federal government's role in criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The Court held that the federal government did not have jurisdiction over crimes committed by Native peoples against one another on tribal land. The Court's decision in this case affirmed tribal sovereignty, leading to the passage of the Indian Major Crimes Act two years later, which brought certain crimes committed on tribal lands under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
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| Expatriation Act |
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The Expatriation Act was a federal law that rescinded United States citizenship for American women that married foreigners.
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| Foraker Act |
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The Foraker Act established the civil government of Puerto Rico, transitioning it away from martial rule. The Foraker Act established Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory, making it ineligible for statehood. This act did not allow residents of Puerto Rico to be United States Citizens.
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| Gonzales v. Williams |
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Gonzales v. Williams is one of a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court addressing the status of U.S. territories known as the Insular Cases. This case determined that while people from Puerto Rico were not citizens of the United States, they were also not "aliens." This case labelled those in unincorporated territories as U.S, nationals instead of citizens.
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