Another robust collection within ProQuest’s History Vault providing primary source materials from digitized archival collections is Slavery and the Law. This database features petitions on race, slavery, and free blacks that were submitted to state legislatures and county courthouses between 1775 and 1867. These petitions were collected by Loren Schweninger over a four-year period from hundreds of courthouses and historical societies in 10 states and the District of Columbia. The petitions document the realities of slavery at the most immediate local level and with amazing candor. “Slavery and the Law” also includes the important State Slavery Statutes collection, a comprehensive record of the laws governing American slavery from 1789-1865.
