Civil Rights Documents

Are people born free? Do governments give rights to citizens or do citizens give-up some rights in exchange for good government? These are stories about people seeking and achieving their civil rights.

Image depicting page 54 from the book, Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative.

Image depicting page 56 from the book, Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative.

Image depicting page 57 from the book, Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative.

In 1704, Britain imposed “Penal Laws” which governed the conduct of Irish Catholics. Over the decades, those restrictive laws substantiall...

Facsimilie of Susan B. Anthony's Petition to the Senate of the United States - For the Protection of Women. Click on the image for a better view.

In 1865, a group of women petitioned the United States Congress to do something about female suffrage. This image depicts the original document which...

Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only Supreme Court justice - in his day - to deny that the "separate but equal" treatment of African-Americans wa...

Speaking for a seven-person majority, with Justice John Marshall Harlan dissenting, Justice Henry Billings Brown delivered the opinion of the court in...

Image of the preface page from The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, written by William Still. Click on the ima...

Image of the 2nd page of the preface from The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters written by William Still. Click ...

Barack Obama issued his first Presidential Proclamation on the day he was sworn in - January 20, 2009.  Announcing a National Day of Renewal and ...

Despite existing laws which would have required a different outcome, President Van Buren was concerned that the rights of Spain be protected since the...

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