Law Commons^™

The Question Of The Purpose Of Anti-Miscegenation Laws, Tyler Dean

Merge

Using The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, along with additional scholarly research and legal documentation for context, explores the ramifications and reasonings behind the creation and enforcement of anti-miscegenation laws. The primary individuals focused on suggest that anti-miscegenation laws were enacted for reasons outside of marriage's status as a union between two individuals. Social status, property inheritance, and even voting rights were denied to African Americans via the vehicle of anti-miscegenation laws. Just as other antebellum laws served to advance the agendas of the time, anti-miscegenation laws were no different. And the specific stories elaborated on …