 Administration of Justice Act |
|
One of the Intolerable Acts, the Administration of Justice Act was known as the Murder Act by colonists. The Administration of Justice Act allowed the Governor to remove any acquisition placed on a royal official if the governor did not believe the official would receive a fair trial. Colonists referred to this act as the Murder Act because they believed it would allow royal officials to get away with murder. The Intolerable, or Coercive, Acts were passed as a reaction to the Boston Tea party to reduce the rights of Massachusetts colonists and strengthen royal control over the colony. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
|
| An Act Further to Protect Personal Liberty |
|
This Massachusetts personal liberty law aimed to counteract the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 by forbidding state-level judges and law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining any person "for the reason that he is claimed as a fugitive slave."
|
| Articles of Confederation |
|
The first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation, were only in place for eight years due to the limited power granted to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the current constitution in 1789.
|
| Boston Port Act |
|
One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act closed Boston harbor to all commerce until the city paid for the tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Port Act attempted to subdue Boston’s revolutionary residents. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
|
 Broadside Reacting to the Fugitive Slave Act |
|
This broadside was distributed in Boston following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
|
| Debt Recovery Act |
|
The Debt Recovery Act of 1732 was a British law that allowed enslaved people to be used as collateral for loans. This sharply contrasted the Spanish colonial policy that prevented enslaved people from being used as collateral.
|
| Declaration of Independence |
|
The Declaration of Independence formally announced the separation of the 13 United States from the United Kingdom. The document lists the reasons members of the second Continental Congress believed they should no longer be under British colonial rule.
|
| Defining Race & Lifelong Servitude in the Colonial Americas |
|
This module links Spanish colonial documents from the turn of the sixteenth century to British colonial innovations in the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries, demonstrating how European colonists developed a racialized hierarchy that justified the widespread enslavement of Africans and their descendants.
|
| Emmanuel Downing to John Winthrop |
|
Downing's letter to Winthrop shows changing colonial attitudes to race and practices of enslavement.
|
| Equal Protection, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the 14th Amendment |
|
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.
|
| In re Halladjian et al. |
|
In this case, a Massachusetts circuit court ruled that people from West Asia were so intermixed with Europeans that the Armenian plaintiffs should be considered white and admitted to U.S. citizenship.
|
| Martin v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
|
The Martin case sets precedent that women have the same legal status as their husbands.
|
| Massachusetts Body of Liberties |
|
The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code formed in the New England colonies. It established individual rights and protections that would later influence the U.S. Bill of Rights.
|
| Massachusetts Government Act |
|
One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Massachusetts Government Act gave the right to appoint a governor of Massachusetts to the King and Queen. This act was passed following the Boston Tea party and restructured Massachusetts’s government to give the monarchy more control over the colony. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
|
| Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act |
|
Passed in reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act was among laws passed by Northern states in an attempt to protect Black residents from unwarranted arrest.
|
| Mayflower Compact |
|
The Mayflower Compact is the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It establishes the men that will make governing decisions for the new colony. The founders of the Plymouth Colony left England because they felt the reformation had not gone far enough in England and were dissatisfied with the Church of England. Despite this, the Mayflower Compact still pledges loyalty to the King.
|
| Plymouth, Massachusetts, Colonial Court Cases |
|
These excerpts from the Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England document Native Peoples' engagement with the law after a 1641 code grants due process.
|
| Proclamation 10948 - Enhancing National Security By Addressing Risks At Harvard University |
|
This presidential proclamation claims that because of an increase of criminal activity at Harvard University, and a failure of the University to comply with federal directives, international student visas will be revoked.
|
| Quartering Act (1765) |
|
A part of the American Mutiny Act, the Quartering Act required American colonists to house and board British soldiers. The Act placed financial burden of quartering soldiers on the colonies. It specified the supplies soldiers of different ranks were expected to be furnished with by the colonies, and the costs associated with failure to comply. This act is the reason the Third Amendment was included in the Constitution of the United States. Like the Stamp and Sugar Acts, the Quartering Act forced colonists into extra financial responsibilities without any representation in Parliament.
|
| Quartering Act (1774) |
|
One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Quartering Act of 1774 expanded the Quartering Act of 1765 to allow soldiers to be housed in private homes. While the other Intolerable Acts applied directly to Massachusetts, the Quartering Act applied to all of colonial North America. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
|
| Somerset v. Stewart |
|
This case heard before the English Court of King's Bench determined that slavery was unsupported by English Common Law and that no enslaved person could be forced out of England to be sold into slavery. James Sommerset was an enslaved person who had been purchased by Charles Stewart in Boston, Massachusetts, then taken to England. Sommerset later escaped, and Stewart had him captured and imprisoned on a ship headed to Jamaica. Sommerset's godparents applied for a writ of habeas corpus. Following the court’s decision, enslaved people in the American Colonies filed freedom suits on Mansfield's ruling.
|
| Stamp Act |
|
The Stamp Act placed a tax on various printed material like legal documents, playing cards, and newspapers. The act specifies skins and pieces of parchment serving various legal roles and the differing amounts of tax each document needed. The tax’s payment was confirmed by the placement of a stamp indicating a specific amount on the good. It was the first of a series of taxes placed on the North American colonies without their consent, sparking protest and resistance.
|
| Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard |
|
This Supreme Court case considered whether Harvard's admissions process violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Court decided that the race-based admissions system did not meet the strict scrutiny required to allow a race-based system, and held as unconstitutional the consideration of an applicant’s race as a factor in making an admissions decision that benefits diversity.
|
| Sugar Act |
|
The Sugar Act of 1764 imposed duties on sugar, molasses, wine, and other goods imported to United States colonies. The act also includes expectations of stricter adherence to trade regulations and steeper penalties for violations. It even includes a provision to defend those enforcing the act. It was part of a series of bills imposing unequal tariffs on North American colonies and those in England. These policies aided in the popularity of independence movements in North America.
|
| Tea Act |
|
The Tea Act created a monopoly on the tea trade for the East India Company. It ultimately lowered tea prices in Britain but forced colonists to pay the Townshend tax on tea. Reactions to the Act sparked the Boston Tea Party. Prior to the Tea Act, the East India Company was required to sell tea directly to London and then other merchants would sell tea to the colonies. The Tea Act eliminated third party merchants and forced colonists to buy taxed tea.
|