Laws & Citizen Rights Archives

May 8, 1858: John Brown and Constitutional Convention

John Brown, Martin Delany, and others gathered for a Constitutional Convention in Chatham, Canada.

April 11, 1835: Thaddeus Stevens Gives Speech in Defense of Free Schools Act

Thaddeus Stevens gave a speech in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in defense of the Free Schools Act of 1834, which moved the state House to vote against repeal and the Senate to take another vote in support of free public schools.

The Essential Mario Savio: Speeches and Writings that Changed America

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Robert Cohen, with a foreword by Tom Hayden and an afterword by Robert Reich. 2014. 320 pages.

July 6, 1798: Alien Enemies Act Signed Into Law

The Alien Enemies Act, one of four laws enacted in 1798 known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts, permits the president to target, detain, and deport people in the United States based on their citizenship and nationality without due process.

Oct. 26, 2001: PATRIOT Act Signed

President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act, which rolled back civil liberties for U.S. citizens and immigrants.

Executive Order 9066 | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 19, 1942: Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt authorized the incarceration (internment) of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent.

May 16, 1918: The Sedition Act of 1918 Enacted

The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted to extend the Espionage Act of 1917. It forbade the use of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the U.S. government.

March 3, 1807: Thomas Jefferson Signs Insurrection Act Into Law

President Thomas Jefferson put his signature on the law known as the Insurrection Act.

May 3, 1913: California’s Alien Land Law Enacted

California enacted the Alien Land Law to bar Asian immigrants from owning or leasing land. These restrictions, and others imposed later, remained in place through both World Wars.

Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America

Book — Non-fiction. By Martha S. Jones. 2018. 266 pages.
The story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses.

collage of six Black abolitionists in the United States.

‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 16 pages.
In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Knotted Line

Website. Interactive timeline that connects moments in history related to the prison industrial complex.

May 6, 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act Signed

The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, prohibiting Chinese immigration to the United States.

May 4, 1970: Kent State Massacre

During an anti-war protest at Kent State University, the Ohio National Guard shot unarmed college students, killing four. Students were also killed at Jackson State (May 15, 1970), and Orangeburg (February 8, 1968).

Peter Yew/Police Brutality Protests, 1975 | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

May 19, 1975: Peter Yew/Police Brutality Protests

Virtually every shop and factory in Chinatown was closed, with signs posted windows and on doors reading “Closed to Protest Police Brutality” to protest the beating of Peter Yew.

May 10, 1886: Lee Yick Wins Equal Protection Under the Law Case

Lee Yick won a Supreme Court case that said that all people — citizens and non-citizens alike — had equal protection under the law.

May 18, 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson Ruling

Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities.

Pentagon Papers Charges Dismissed | Zinn Education Project

May 11, 1973: Pentagon Papers Charges Dismissed

Judge Byrne dismissed all charges against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the Pentagon Papers trial.

May 12, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Began

The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial effort to gain economic justice for poor people.

Spottswood Thomas Bolling Jr. and his mother Mrs. Sarah Bolling of the Bolling v. Sharpe school desegregation case, decided on the same day as Brown v. Board. Image: © The Washington Post by permission from the Washingtoniana Division.

May 17, 1954: Brown v. Board Ruling

After decades of organizing and strategic efforts by parents, teachers, lawyers, and more — the U.S. Supreme Court issued the unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education on school segregation.

May 13, 1985: Philadelphia Police Bomb MOVE

The Philadelphia Police Department dropped a C-4 bomb on the home of the MOVE organization, killing eleven people (including five children) and wiping out half a city block.

Oct. 17, 1837: Petition to Repeal Black Codes in Ohio

The first general convention of African American Ohioans met in Columbus and pledged to continue raising their voices in order to repeal the Black Codes.

A photograph of the Tougaloo Nine, Black activists who staged a read-in at the public library to protest segregation.

March 27, 1961: Jackson, Mississippi Library Sit-In

Nine Tougaloo College students and members of the Jackson Youth Council of the NAACP staged a sit-in to protest segregation at the Jackson Public Library in 1961 and were subsequently arrested.

May 16, 1950: Briggs v. Elliott Challenges School Segregation

With the help of the NAACP, local African American parents in South Carolina fought back against school segregation in a case that eventually helped to end segregation of public facilities across the nation.

Aug. 3, 1885: Florida Constitution Adopted

The Florida Constitution of 1885 mandated separate and unequal educational systems for Black and white students, reinforcing racial segregation.

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