- tended it to include the whole United States and all
the races.
Immediately after the Negro became a free man in 1865, the Federal Government undertook, by a series of constitutional amendments and statutory enactments, to secure to him all the rights and privileges of an American citizen. My effort has been to ascertain how far this attempt has been successful. The inquiry has been: After forty-five years of freedom from physical bondage, how much does the Negro lack of being, in truth, a full-fledged American citizen? What limitations upon him are allowed or imposed by law because he is a Negro?
This is not meant, however, to be a legal treatise. Although the sources are, in the main, constitutions, statutes, and court reports, an effort has been made to state the principles in an untechnical manner. Knowing that copious citations are usually irksome to those who read for general information, I have relegated all notes to the ends of the chapters for the benefit of the more curious reader who often finds them the most profitable part of a book. There he will find citations of authorities for practically every important statement made.
All the chapters, except the last two, were published serially in The American Law Review during the year 1909. The substance of the chapter on "Separation of Races in Public Conveyances" was published also in The American Political Science Review for May, 1909.
I wish that I could make public acknowledgment of my indebtedness to all who have helped me in the preparation of this volume. Hundreds of public officials in the South—mayors of cities, clerks of courts, attorneys-gen-
