Black Laws in the Old Northwest: A Documentary History

This book brings together the Black Laws of the Old Northwest (now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin) for the first time, thereby providing a documentary history of racial discrimination in this free territory. The documents in the volume include statutes, legislative reports and resolutions, and petitions and memorials produced by the state legislatures, government agencies, or concerned citizens. After a brief prologue, the documents are organized by state. Within each state they are placed in sets of documents of specific topics such as immigration laws, welfare and public education laws, and jury and testimony laws.