AUL LibGuides: Juneteenth: Government Resources

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What can I find in Government Documents?

Government Documents include any publication of a governing agency. Among these documents is federal legislation which guaranteed certain freedoms, such as the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, as well as reports from agencies dealing with desegregating schools and enforcing labor laws, and federal holidays, such as the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act of 2021.

Presidential Papers are also a valuable resource when looking at the response to public actions from the highest levels of government. These collections typically include reports from various government agencies submitted to the President, as well as responses from the Executive Office, Cabinet members, and other high-level members of an Administration.

Finally, court cases are important sites of government action, especially on issues of civil and constitutional rights.

Government Acts

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
In 1850, Southerners succeeded in getting a new federal law passed to return fugitive slaves who had escaped to the North.
The U.S. government enforced this law, but some Northern states passed laws to resist it. Sometimes, free blacks and sympathetic whites joined to rescue captured fugitive slaves.
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Freedmen’s Bureau Acts of 1865 and 1866
On March 3, 1865, Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans.
The Civil Rights Bill of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law.
14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.
15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Barred discrimination in public accommodations and on public conveyances on land and water. Prohibited the exclusion of African Americans from jury duty. Passed by the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) as H.R. 796.
Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941)
In June of 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, banning discriminatory employment practices by federal agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war-related work. The order also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the new policy.
Executive Order 9980: Desegregation of Federal Workforce (1948)
On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Orders 9980, ordering the desegregation of the federal workforce.
Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948)
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed this executive order banning segregation in the Armed Forces.
Civil Rights Act (1964)
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
Voting Rights Act (1965)
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968
The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).
Juneteenth National Independence Day Act (2021)
The day was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Commission on Civil Rights

The United States Commission on Civil Rights has published hundreds of reports since its inception in 1957.

Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights
The Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland has worked since 2001 to create a complete electronic record of United States Commission on Civil Rights publications held in the Library's collection and available on the USCCR Web site.
Browse by report title, date, or subject topic.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: official website
Established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 as an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency, the USCCR informs the development of national civil rights policy and enhances enforcement of federal civil rights laws.

Congressional Documents

Congressional Publications (ProQuest)
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See legislative histories, Congressional profiles, Congressional research reports, bills by number, hearings, and the U.S. Serial Set, along with other congressional publications. An excellent starting point for a variety of multidisciplinary research. Advanced searching will allow the user to select a specific content type, witness, Public Law number or other facet of the content. Historical background is provided in the Congress in Context feature, which provides important contextual information about the economic trends and conditions, political climate and more.

Court Cases

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races."
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1, was a landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968)
In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with the “freedom of choice” plans, which were created to avoid compliance with Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs Board of Education.
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
The decision upheld affirmative action's constitutionality in education, as long it employeed a "highly individualized, holistic review of each applicant's file" and did not consider race as a factor in a "mechanical way."

Court Cases Databases

Oyez

A multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, providing all of the Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Issues search feature gives quick access to cases related to all aspects of civil rights jurisprudence.
Includes transcript-synchronized and searchable audio, plain-English case summaries, illustrated decision information, and full-text Supreme Court opinions.

Nexis Uni

This database contains news, legal cases, law reviews, company information and many other business, law and news publications ~ from over 15,000 fulltext sources. Content includes sources such as the New York Times, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, company profiles, and SEC filings.