In this presentation, Jane Ann Moore discusses the severe restrictions of Illinois' "black laws" of the early 19th Century. Prominent men like Frederick Douglass, John Jones, Owen Lovejoy, Ichabod Codding, and Zebina Eastman pressured the Illinois legislature to rescind these laws with little effect. Starting in 1854 when the antislavery Republicans gained 25% of the State Legislature, these forces able to begin pushing for laws that would, among other things, allow blacks to be witnesses in court, to be included on juries, and to have access to public education.