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Act to Regulate Blacks and Mulattoes (1827)

This law was a thinly veiled attempt to control the civil liberties of blacks entering and residing in Michigan. Infrequently or marginally enforced, it required its targets to register with their county of residence, provide papers of freedom and pay $500 bond to ensure their “good behavior”. In return, these residents were granted protections of the court in the case of the threat of kidnapping, but also made assisting slave to escape to freedom, illegal.


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US Fugitive Slave Law of 1817 - not passed

Slave owners continued to push for increased property rights protections in the case of fugitive slaves. Two unsuccessful attempts were made one in 1801 another in 1817 during a climate of backlash to

Michigan Constitution (1835)

Before becoming a state, Michigan a Territory under governance of the Northwest Ordinance, had outlawed slavery but assured no civil rights for blacks. Upon becoming a state, Michigan inherited Ohio’s

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