The beginnings of modern civil rights in the Midwest:
Key cases: State ex rel. Garnes v. McCann – Ohio, 1871 (21Ohio St. 198); Cory v. Carter – Indiana, 1874 (48 Ind. 327)
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Co. v. Williams – Illinois, 1870 (55 Ill. 185); Chase v. Stephenson – Illinois, 1874 (71 Ill. 383); Baylies v. Curry – Illinois, 1889 (21 N.E. 595)
Clark v. Board of Directors – Iowa, 1868 (24 Iowa 266); People ex rel. Workman v. Board of Education of Detroit – Michigan, 1869 (18 Mich. 400); Coger v Northwestern Union Packet Co. – Iowa, 1873 (37 Iowa 145); Ferguson v Gies – Michigan, 1890 (82 Mich. 358, 46 N.W. 718)
| John T. McCutcheon cartoon, Chicago Tribune, 1904 (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
"There is but one construction which will preserve the unity, harmony, and consistency of our [Indiana] state const, and that is, to hold that it was made and adopted by and for the exclusive use and enjoyment of the white race.”- Justice Samuel Buskirk, in Cory "We cannot avoid seeing … that the force of [Workman’s] claim depends much, if not entirely, upon the effect to be given to a changed condition of public affairs, and whatever corresponding change that condition may have wrought upon public opinion concerning the treatment of colored persons.” – Justice James Campbell (dissenting), in Workman
“The ground upon which we base this conclusion will be discovered, in the progress of this opinion, to be the absolute equality of all men … .[Racial] prejudice, be it proclaimed to the honor of our people, … is fast giving way to nobler sentiments, and, it is hoped, will soon be entombed with its parent, slavery.” -Justice Joseph Beck, in Coger |
- OTHER ASPECTS OF MIDWEST LEGAL HISTORY DURING THIS PERIOD
- OTHER PERIODS OF MIDWEST LEGAL HISTORY
- THE LEGAL HISTORY OF OTHER REGIONS