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Slavery and the Law

Slavery and The Law

Slavery and the Law (ProQuest) (1775-1867) This link opens in a new window
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"Slavery and the Law features petitions on race, slavery, and free blacks that were submitted to state legislatures and county courthouses between 1775 and 1867. These petitions were collected by Loren Schweninger over a four year period from hundreds of courthouses and historical societies in 10 states and the District of Columbia. The petitions document the realities of slavery at the most immediate local level and with amazing candor. Slavery and the Law also includes the important State Slavery Statutes collection, a comprehensive record of the laws governing American slavery from 1789-1865."
Collections include:
-- Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery & The Negro, Edited By Helen Tunnicliff Catterall
-- Law of Freedom and Bondage in the United States by John Codman Hurd
-- Race, Slavery, And Free Blacks Series I: Petitions to Southern Legislatures, 1777–1867
-- Race, Slavery, And Free Blacks Series II: Petitions to Southern County Courts, 1777–1867. Part A: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Part B: Delaware, District of Columbia, and Maryland. Part C: Virginia and Kentucky. Part D: North Carolina and South Carolina. Part E: Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas. Part F: Louisiana (1775–1867)
-- State Slavery Statutes (1789–1865)

ProQuest Congressional

ProQuest Congressional (1789+) This link opens in a new window
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access to vast and varied information published by and about Congress, including full text of almost all Committee Reports from 1990 forward and Congressional testimony from 1988 forward.
formerly called "LexisNexis Congressional"
Contents include:
- Legislative Histories, 1969+
- Bills & Laws, 1987+
- Committee Prints & Misc. Publications, 1789+
- Congressional Record & Predecessors, 1789+
- CRS Reports, 1916+
- Hearings, 1824+
- House & Senate Documents, 1789+
- House & Senate Reports, 1789+
- Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1939

Black Abolitionist Papers

Black Abolitionist Papers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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"comprehensively detail(s) the extensive work of African Americans to abolish slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War. Covering the period 1830-1865, the collection presents the massive, international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings and publications of the activists themselves. The approximately 15,000 articles, documents, correspondence, proceedings, manuscripts, and literary works of almost 300 Black abolitionists show the full range of their activities in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Germany."
"Included in the collection are such types of primary documents as:

-- Correspondence of major African American leaders
-- Speeches, sermons, and lectures
-- Articles, essays, editorials, and other major writings from more than 200 newspapers: African American, abolitionist, and reform newspapers
--Receipts, poems, and other miscellaneous documents"

Available on the ProQuest platform. The Chadwyck Healey platform is no longer available.

Black Freedom Struggle

Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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Collections include: Federal Government Records & Supplement; and Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Parts 1 and 2, and NAACP papers.

The focus of the Federal Government Records & Supplements modules is on the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century. Major collections include the FBI Files and records from the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, detailing the interaction between civil rights leaders and organizations and the highest levels of the federal government.

The Organizational Records and Personal Papers parts 1 and 2 bring a new perspective to the Black Freedom Struggle via the records of major civil rights organizations and personal papers of leaders and observers of the 20th century Black freedom struggle.