White Papers

Explore the Ida B. Wells Center’s Core Exposition, challenging the legality of slavery in U.S. history and advocating for justice and restitution.

Uncover the criminal origins of slavery in the U.S. at the Ida B. Wells Center, exploring how corrupt colonial practices defied British law.

Explore how the Declaratory Act of 1766 nullified colonial slave laws, redefining the legal and historical understanding of slavery in the U.S.

Learn how slavery in the U.S. was rooted in corrupt colonial practices, challenging its legality under British law and reshaping historical narratives.

Discover Elizabeth Key’s 17th-century legal battle in Virginia, challenging hereditary slavery by asserting rights under English common law.

Explore how the Declaratory Act of 1766 asserted British legislative authority over American colonies, nullifying conflicting colonial laws and fueling revolutionary sentiments.

Explore how English common law deemed slavery illegal in American colonies, challenging the legitimacy of colonial slave codes.

Explore how the 1783 Treaty of Paris impacted enslaved individuals, leading to British evacuations and the unaddressed status of 500,000 Afro-Englishmen in the U.S.

Learn how General Henry Clinton’s 1779 Phillipsburg Proclamation offered freedom to enslaved Africans in American colonies, aiming to disrupt the Patriot war effort.

Explore how Thomas Jefferson’s proposal to adopt Roman law aimed to legitimize slavery in the U.S., circumventing English common law prohibitions.