 Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1796 |
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The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act had important economic, legal and political implications in the Early Republic. A key feature of the legislation was the recognition of tribal sovereignty and legal jurisdiction.
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| Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act (1975) |
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This act allowed 130,000 refugees from South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to enter the United States and allotted relocation aid and financial assistance.
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| Interethnic Provisions of 1996 |
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Part of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 was a provision that included a tax credit to help families with adoption costs and to promote the adoption of foster children. Additional provisions in the act intended to strengthen and clarify the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994.
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| Interim Report on Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government (1950) |
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Following World War II, there was a surge in growth of gay culture in cities. Young people were moving to cities in droves, and they used the anonymity they found in cities to practice their sexuality. The backlash against the increasingly prevalent gay culture was known as the Lavender Scare. Tied to the Red Scare, many homosexual people were fired from their roles working for the federal government. The Interim Report on Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government summarized the people they deemed unsuited to work for the government due to their sexuality. As a result, thousands of gay employees were fired or forced to resign from government roles, and other gay individuals never applied for fear of being outed.
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| Iroquois Confederacy and Indian Nations—Recognizing Contributions to the United States (1988) |
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In this resolution, Congress acknowledged the contributions of the Iroquois Confederacy and other Native nations to the formation and development of the United States and reaffirmed the federal government's responsibilities and obligations to Native Americans.
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| Judiciary Act of 1789 |
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This act established a federal judiciary of District, Circuit, and Supreme Courts separate from individual state courts. Portions of the Judiciary Act was overturned by the 1803 Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison, which declared Section 13 of the act unconstitutional because it conflicted with Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
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| Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967) |
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In the Supreme Court case of Keyishian v. Board of Regents, the Court considered whether a New York law limiting the public employment of "subversive persons" was a violation of the First Amendment. The Court in this case ruled that First Amendment restrictions must be narrow.
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| Lawrence v. Texas (2003) |
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This Supreme Court case struck down a Texas law that criminalized sexual relations between people of the same sex. Lawrence v. Texas ruled that all sexual relations between consenting adults is legal.
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| Legalizing Whiteness: What Asian American Legal History Tells Us About Citizenship in the Early 20th Century |
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This teaching module explains how the Supreme Court determined Asian American legal standings in the early 20th century through the lens of and priority toward whiteness.
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| Letter from Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Superintendent, Round Valley, California (1902) |
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This letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Superintendent of the Round Valley Reservation in California reveals the connections between appearance and progress towards civilization in the eyes of federal Indian policymakers during the Progressive Era. This federal document is an example of policies restricting Native American identity for the purpose of furthering assimilation. In it, racialized presumptions about civilization are tied to hair, Native practices of face painting, and clothing. The agent is encouraged to get his wards to wear their hair short, as it will "hasten their progress towards civilization." Hair is especially seen as an agent of regression for former boarding school students, who return to the reservation, let their hair grow long, and subsequently "adopts all the old habits and customs which his education in our industrial schools had tried to eradicate." Dancing and feasts are prohibited because of their effects on morality. The Commissioner suggests withholding employment and supplies from Native Americans who do not comply with these orders.
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| Letters of Application for Fee Patent (1915) |
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Three applications sent to the Secretary of the Interior for admission to full American citizenship through the competency process. These applications summarized the main assets and qualities of the Native American individual that qualified them for U.S. citizenship. Some applications were written by the Native American applicant, but the majority were composed by a reservation agent. Together, these three applications reveal the changes brought upon Native American landholdings and personal identity as a result of the Allotment and Assimilation era. They emphasize how legal schemes, such as the competency commissions, upheld racialized legal benchmarks as indicators of a Native person's readiness for citizenship.
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| Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903) |
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After Congress attempted to pass legislation that violated the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867, Kiowa chief Lone Wolf filed a complaint on behalf of the tribes who had signed the treaty. The Supreme Court sided with Congress and upheld the violation of the treaty.
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| Lord Dunmore's Proclamation (1775) |
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In this proclamation, Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, declared martial law in the colony at the start of the American Revolution. He incentivized enslaved people to join the British Army by offering them freedom in exchange for service, which in turn helped mobilize American enslavers against the British Army.
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| Loving v. Virginia (1967) |
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In this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional for violating the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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| Magna Carta (1215) |
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The foundation for governments of former British colonies, the Magna Carta held the king accountable to the barons, and later, the people. It was born out of a misuse of resources and abuse of power on the part of the King of England.
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| Mann Act (1910) |
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The Mann Act was a federal law that focused on interstate sex trafficking, specifically of white women. The act was responsible for the targeting of inter-racial couples by law enforcement.
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| Meriam Report: General Summary of Findings and Recommendations (1928) |
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The Meriam Report highlighted the failures of allotment while advocating for reform.
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| Missouri Compromise (1820) |
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The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The compromise also suggested that slavery be prohibited north of the 36°30' latitude, which was followed until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
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| Monroe Doctrine (1823) |
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In an address before Congress, President James Monroe warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. The United States continued to invoke the Monroe Doctrine in its foreign policy through to today.
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| Morrill Act (1862) |
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This act, passed during the Civil War, prioritized proficiency in agriculture and mechanics to see to the needs of the growing country. The act granted federal lands to each state for the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college that promotes agriculture and the mechanic arts. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln was established in 1869 as Nebraska's land-grant university.
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| Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 |
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Part of the Improving America's Schools Act, the Multiethnic Placement Act sought to prevent discrimination on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin when making foster or adoptive placements.
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| Native American Citizenship and Competency During the Allotment and Assimilationist Era |
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This teaching module explores how citizenship featured in Native American policy during the Allotment and Assimilation Era. It highlights the first formal naturalization process for individuals on a national scale. Focusing on competency commissions from 1915 to 1920, this unit guides students in analyzing how legal assessments of "competency" in the context of citizenship were shaped by race, gender, and settler values. Using primary documents— including applications, inspection reports, and naturalization rituals—this module examines how federal policies enforced whiteness and domestic norms as criteria for inclusion. The module also encourages discussion about the dual role of citizenship as both a tool of assimilation and a potential resource for Native resistance and legal agency.
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| Naturalization Act of 1790 |
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The Naturalization Act of 1790 had important legal and political implications in the Early Republic. An emerging racial hierarchy was reflected in the determinations of who was allowed to become a citizen. The act specified that any free white person who had resided in the U.S. for two years could be admitted to become a citizen, provided they were a "person of good character" according to a court of law.
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| Naturalization Act of 1798 |
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This is one of four acts known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts were passed by a Federalist-controlled Congress applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the U.S. They were highly controversial and contributed to the Federalist defeat in the election of 1800. The Naturalization Act increased the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 15 years and the notice time from 3 to 5 years. While passed with the aim of protecting national security, it also decreased the number of new citizens and voters who disagreed with the Federalists.
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| Naturalization Act of 1870 |
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The 1870 Naturalization Act extended paths to United States citizenship for people of African descent while excluding Chinese immigrants.
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