 Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) |
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Signed between the U.S. and the Sioux Nation, this treaty granted the Black Hills to the Sioux people as part of their reservation. A few years later, General George Custer led an expedition through the Black Hills where they found gold. American violation of this treaty led to the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Ownership of the Black Hills continues to be disputed today.
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| Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) |
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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo reset the southern border between Mexico and the United States. Implications of the treaty included issues of citizenship, land, and legal status. Mexican nationals were admitted as U.S. citizens, legally defining them as white, but they could also be regarded as Indian on a case by case basis.
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| Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw (1866) |
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The 1866 Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw was one of a series of treaties between the United States government and each of the "Five Civilized Tribes" (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole Nations) at the end of the Civil War. The treaty details the stipulations for the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to re-establish their allegiance with the U.S. after allying with the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Among other provisions, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty of 1866 included articles that outlawed slavery within both nations (except as a punishment for crime), provided a pathway for citizenship and civil rights for the Freedmen of both nations, and ceded lands to the United States.
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| Treaty with the Navajo Nation (1868) |
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The 1868 Treaty with the Navajo allowed them to return to their ancestral lands during a period of history where the U.S. government were removing Native Americans from their homelands.
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| U.S. Constitutionalism and Native American Sovereignty |
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This teaching module discusses the centrality of Native people and their nations throughout American history, featuring a webinar with Ned Blackhawk, author of the 2023 book, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History.
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| U.S. Freedman's Bank Records, Registers of Signatures of Depositors, New York (1870) |
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Freedman's Bank records show both strivings toward stability as well as racialization and colorism post-emancipation due to the specific color-related information listed with deposits.
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| Unis et al. v. Charlton's Administrator et al. (1855) |
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In this freedom suit, the descendants of a Black woman named Flora claimed their freedom on the grounds that Flora was free before being abducted and sold into slavery in Virginia. Between 1826-1855, a series of cases bounced around county and appellate courts in Virginia before finally being decided against freedom for Flora's descendants.
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| United States v. Cisna (1835) |
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In this case, a white defendant was charged with horse stealing on Wyandot tribal lands in Ohio. The court ruled that the state was within its rights to punish its citizens for crimes committed against Native Americans on tribal lands.
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| United States v. Joseph (1876) |
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In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Pueblo people were not Indians within the meaning of the Indian Nonintercourse Act in part because they had received full legal title to their land from the Spanish.
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| United States v. Kagama (1886) |
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This Supreme Court case asserted the federal government's role in criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The Court ruled that the Indian Major Crimes act was constitutional, therefore federal courts had jurisdiction to indict Native defendants for murder.
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| 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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| United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) |
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In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court solidified the principle of birthright citizenship, affirming that anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' citizenship, is a U.S. citizen.
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| United States v. Yellow Sun (1870) |
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In this case, a federal court in Nebraska debated the question of federal or state jurisdiction over Native Americans suspected of a crime committed outside a reservation. The court held that there were no treaty rights or congressional provisions that required federal jurisdiction, therefore states had jurisdiction over crimes committed within its boundaries unless on tribal land. They also held that because crimes committed on tribal lands were not in violation of any federal laws, the state had civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal lands.
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| United States, ex rel. Standing Bear, v. George Crook (1879) |
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In this case, Judge Elmer S. Dundy ruled that "an Indian is a person within the meaning of the laws of the United States," and that they were entitled to the right of expatriation. Standing Bear and 29 other Ponca had left their reservation in Indian Territory without the permission of the federal government and returned to Nebraska. They were later arrested and petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. Judge Dundy's opinion led to the release of the Ponca petitioners.
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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 - The Insular Cases and Contested Citizenship (2024) |
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In this webinar, Professor Robert McGreevey of the College of New Jersey discusses the intersection of U.S. colonial power and migration with Dr. Jeannette Eileen Jones and her And Justice For All 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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| Webinar - Vanguard: Black Women and the Right to Vote (2024) |
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In this webinar, Professor Martha S. Jones of Johns Hopkins University discusses Black women and the right to vote with Dr. William Thomas and his American Constitutional History class.
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| White Person Marrying a Negro or Celebrating Such Marriage (1873) |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly punished any white person who intermarried with a Black person with fines and jail time. It also fined the person who conducted the ceremony, with half of the fine going to the informant who reported the marriage to authorities.
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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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| Woman Suffrage in Territories (1883) |
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This newspaper article discusses the women's suffrage act passed in Washington Territory. Washington was the third territory to grant women suffrage rights, although the Territorial Supreme Court later overturned the law.
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| Wyoming Declaration of Rights (1889) |
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The first article of the State of Wyoming's Constitution enumerates certain rights within the state. Wyoming Territory was the first government to grant women suffrage rights, and that right was preserved in the Declaration of Rights when organizing the state government.
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