Table of Contents

Foreword Joe R. GreenhillProject Director's Foreword Joseph W. McKnightAcknowledgmentsA Note on Editorial StyleIntroduction. Human Chattels: The Laws of Slavery in Texas Randolph B. Campbell1. Laws on Slavery in Mexican Texas, 1821-1836Legal DocumentsEmpire of Mexico, Colonisation Law of January 4, 1823Stephen F. Austin's Colony Criminal Regulations, 1824, Articles 10-14Congress of the United Mexican States, Decree on the Slave Trade in Mexico, July 13, 1824Constitution of Coahuila and Texas, March 11, 1827, Article 13State of Coahuila and Texas, Decree No. 18, September 15, 1827State of Coahuila and Texas, Decree No. 35, November 24, 1827State of Coahuila and Texas, Decree No. 56, May 5, 1828Republic of Mexico, Decree of April 6, 1830State of Coahuila and Texas, Decree No. 190, April 28, 1832ArticlesSlavery in Early Texas, I Lester G. BugbeeSlavery in Early Texas, II Lester G. Bugbee2. Laws on Slavery in the Republic and Statehood Periods, 1836-1860Legal DocumentsConstitution of the Republic of Texas, 1836, General Provisions, Sections 6, 9, 10Constitution of the State of Texas, 1845, Article 8ArticlesThe Law of Slavery in Texas Randolph B. CampbellThe Texas Supreme Court and Trial Rights of Blacks, 1845-1860 A. E. Keir NashCasesCase Study: One Woman's Fight for Freedom: Gess v. Lubbock, 1851 Mark DavidsonCase Report: Henry B. Hedgepeth and Others v. Felix W. Robertson, 18573. Laws on Free Negroes in the Republic and Statehood Periods, 1836-1860Legal DocumentsRepublic of Texas Congress, Debate on the Emancipation of Peter Martin, December 1839, and An Act to Authorize Wylie Martin to Emancipate His Slave Peter, January 3, 1840Republic of Texas, An Act Concerning Free Persons of Color, February 5, 1840Republic of Texas, An Act for the Relief of Certain Free Persons of Color, December 12, 1840ArticleThe Free Negro in the Republic of Texas: The Extent of Discrimination and Its Effects Harold SchoenCaseCase Report: Jesse Benton v. Eli Williams, 18434. Laws on Slavery and Freedom in Confederate and Reconstruction Texas, 1861-1874Legal DocumentSecession Convention of Texas, A Declaration of the Causes Which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union, February 2, 1861ArticleThe End of Slavery in Texas: A Research Note Randolph B. CampbellCasesCase Report: Emancipation Proclamation Cases: W. M. Hall v. T. M. Keese and Dougherty v. Cartwright, 1868Case Report: William Garrett v. John H. Brooks, 1874NotesSelected BibliographyIndex

Promotional Information

* A remarkable collection of original decrees, court cases, and other documents charting the legal history of African Americans in Texas, from Mexican rule through Confederate law

About the Author

Randolph B. Campbell is Regents Professor of History at the University of North Texas. He is editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and author of An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821-1865 (Louisiana State University Pr