The following are documents which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These documents are a starting point for additional research and discussions that help further our understanding of the history of people of African ancestry in the United States.
The general school committee of the city of Boston have power, under the constitution and laws of this commonwealth, to make provision for the instruction of colored children, in separate schools established exclusively for them, and to prohibit their attendance upon the other schools. THIS … Read More(1850) Sarah C. Roberts vs. The City of Boston
An Act in Relation to Service Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah. That any person or persons coming to this Territory and bringing with them servants justly bound to them, arising from special contract or … Read More(1852) The Utah Territory Slave Code
An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the following limits, … Read More(1854) Kansas-Nebraska Act
STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES. Before the Hon. Benjamin Hayes, Judge of the District Court of the First Judicial District State of California, County of Los Angeles. In the matter of Hannah and her children Ann (and Mary, child of Ann), Lawrence, Nathaniel, … Read More(1856) Mason v. Smith (The Bridget “Biddy” Mason Case)
Dred Scott v. Sandford, United States Supreme Court, 1857 (This text has been edited. The original decision is over 200 pages long) This is certainly a very serious question, and one that now for the first time has been brought for decision before this court. … Read More(1857) Dred Scott v. Sandford
Preamble: It has pleased Almighty God to permit the interior of Africa to be made known to us during the last few years, by the efforts of missionaries and explorers, to an extent hitherto deemed almost impossible. The facts which have become public concerning its … Read More(1858) Constitution of the African Civilization Society
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico: SECTION 1. That every person who shall be convicted of the unlawful killing of a slave or other offence upon the person of a slave within this Territory, whether as principal or … Read More(1859) An Act to Provide for the Protection of Property in Slaves in this Territory (New Mexico)
CHAP. LX.–An Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if, during the present or any future insurrection against the Government of the United States, … Read More(1861) The First Confiscation Act
District of Columbia Emancipation Act April 16, 1862 CHAP. LIV. — An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America … Read More(1862) The District of Columbia Emancipation Act
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the … Read More(1862) The Homestead Act
